The Gallo Family had a nice display area at the Wine Fest. I knew they owned quite a number of wineries, but didn’t realize the extent. A few selections from small boutique wineries that I were familiar with I had no idea were Gallo. Wineries like Mirassou and Bridlewood.
When we were in Central CA two years ago, we visited Bridlewood Winery. It was a beautiful place located in Santa Barbara. Years ago we had a wonderful Sauvignon Blanc they had produced and they never produced that again. At the Sun Wine Fest we tasted two of their Syrah’s. The Santa Ynez Estate Syrah and the 2003 Reserve Syrah. The Estate was retailing at $36 and the Reserve at $18. I will give you a description of both and then tell you which one I like the best.
Bridlewood Estate Winery Santa Ynez Syrah – This had vanilla and whice chocolate aromas and had notes of licorice and mocha. It had firm tannins and was smooth and clean on the finish.
Bridlewood 2003 Reserve Syrah – Aromas of blackberry and spice. This wine is very soft with rich flavors of plum and dark cherry fruit.
The winner…………The Reserve priced at $18. See..it doesn’t have to be expensive to be good.
I will review the Mirassou wines tomorrow.
