My favorite of the line up. Definitely needs an hour plus to open up, shows extracted dark fruit, med-full bodied core. Delicious for the $. MP 92+.

Not having had the Sarah's blend ever (in 2001 or any other vintage), what exactly is the make-up of this wine? What is it a blend of -- cab, shiraz, other stuff?

Oh, and how much is it, vinopimp?

TJ, we have to have dinner again. I've got a whole bunch of wines I'd like for you to try. I'm thinking of something at Summer's end.

heh-heh

You are a bad man, Board-o. But I am always up for something like that, you know. Summer's end will be rough though for me (busy already scheduled stuff and then two weeks in Italy in Sept)... October?

We'll see. October is World Series time and then we'll be away for a while.

We'll work something out, I am sure.

TJ- its a Shiraz, Cab, Merlot blend

The Sarah's was my favorite last yr.- glad I got some of the 2002 coming- Thanks MudPuppy!

just popped my first one tonight. MP does not lie. what an awesome fruitbomb of a wine. i decanted it for 1 hr then dove right in. medium to dark in color. nice garnet look to it. the initial hour wsa full of nothing but over the top fully extracted fruit. then after that started to die away i thought that i was drinking a st. emilion. nice integrated tannin. i could of swore at one time i even tasted pizza. after this i think i will have to get another case. this will keep my hands off of my 00 bdx. AI91pts

I have a case on the way. I can't wait. I never had the 2000 or 2001 blend, but I love the 2001 Shiraz.

texaswino,
Be sure to let them settle for a while. They've had a long ride.
My 01 Shiraz is drinking MUCH better now than it did on arrival.

I plan on giving them at least a couple of weeks to settle down. After that I don't think I will be able to wait.

i couldn;t wait. i gave in after a whole 2 days. i called up and order one more case.

damn. i just got back from the wh wine co, and fredman was trying to talk me in to buying some of this. i passed. now i guess i have to go back..?? he has shiraz, cab, merlot & sarah's. are all 4 good/great?

i have heard that the merlot is not up to the level of the other 3. from what i have read the blend seems to be the best, then the shiraz, followed by the cab. not too much commenting on the merlot. i have only tried the blend. the cab will get knocked back soon. purely for scientific purposes

I was slightly underwelmed by the Shiraz last night. Very good but lacking in complexity. 87pts. The Sarah's is drinking much better right now and is a denser, fleshy wine with good structure. 91 pts. and an excellent value.

jb

interesting. when i tasted the 2002 shiraz with dan philips in late may, i thought the wine was excellent.

Quoting Burgess Meredith in Rocky II, "they was handpicked, Rock." You may have had some special bottles. In defense of the wine, I decanted it after we already started drinking it and tried it after about 45 minutes of air. I will finish the rest of the bottle tonight and see if there are improvements.

jb

i'm headed back to the store. i think i am gonna skip the shiraz, merlot and cab. would you suggest buying a whole or 1/2 case of sarah's?

I think I liked the shiraz a bit more than JB. It had a lot packed in there. The Sarah's however really did come out the clean winner though. It's a smoother more approachable wine that was already drinking really well 1/2 hour after opening.

TBird -- If I were you.... hehehe. I'd probably pick up a bottle of the shiraz to try for yourself

I've also tried the cab and didn't enjoy it much. Was very green. ojeffso might be right about the bottle variation. I haven't tried the merlot yet.