Nose-tradamus Predicts…Blueberry, blackberry, raisin, plum, crushed peppercorns
Tasting a Rainbow of…The Wirra Wirra Catapult has been in the back of my mind for about two months now since I picked up the 2007 Waterbrook Syrah Reserve from Cost Plus World Market when their beverage specialist recommended both of the wines to me. I put off on the Wirra Wirra due to my lack of familiarity with Viognier and my skepticism on red wines blended with white wines. But when I stopped by recently and saw this reduced to 15 dollars (a 5 dollar price cut) I just had to pick up a bottle. I sipped this directly after opening and found it to be just a little on the fruit forward side for me and I immediately got worried that I wouldn’t be able to make it through the bottle (to my palate this is a very fruit-y, re: sweet, red wine). I let this sit for a good 20 minutes before returning and testing the waters. The wine was still fruit-y, though it tastes better now that it has had a chance to breathe and reach room temperature. I can taste dark plum, raisin and brown sugar flavors predominantly with hints of charcoal/ash and tobacco right as the mid-palate takes over. The mid-palate holds a decent amount of heat and some interesting tannins that nearly change the charcoal/ash flavors from complex and intriguing into pungent and unpleasant. Luckily these flavors fade rather quickly as the medium finish takes over. The finish is personified by more savory and robust flavors; tobacco, leather, black pepper and smoke. There are some light tinges of plum/raisin and blackberry in the aftertaste, but mainly it tastes like burnt sugar and tobacco. This is a medium-edging-into-full bodied wine with complexity in the attack and finish, and a mid-palate that is a little too rowdy for my tastes.
Overall, I would say 15 dollars is an ok price point for this wine, it is definitely a quality wine. Does it have its flaws? Sure, it’s rough and nearly unpleasant in the mid-palate, but the attack and finish are deep, warm and complex with flavors and textures that definitely had my attention. It is a little “sweet” for my tastes, I like my Shiraz/Syrah to feature fruit but this has just a little too much fruit and sugar for me, especially in the attack. All that aside, I would rate this a Fair to Good QPR at 15 dollars; it’s normally priced at 20 dollars and at that price I think I’d drop my rating a notch and call this an even QPR wine. But if you can find it on sale below 15 bucks, I think you will get yourself a good deal on a fairly complex offering. Will I be Catapult-ing again any time soon? Probably not, but I will think hard about cellaring a bottle of this because I do believe it will hold up well for 5-10 years and age into a very smooth, complex red wine.
Wirra Wirra Vineyards
