Wine of the week: Fruit flavors give syrah oomph

By LAIN BRADFORD - Special to The State

2006 Smoking Loon Syrah, California, $10

The syrah’s aromas of dark jam and spice fill the glass, leading to a flavor that explodes with silky fruit.

The flavors were exceptional — blueberries, cocoa powder and hints of rosemary. The finish allows all these flavors to glide across the tongue. Hints of white pepper, raspberry jam and clove finish out the tasting experience.

This wine is soft enough to stand up to shark, tuna and swordfish and big enough to handle steak or wild game. A great pairing we tried was blackened tuna steaks topped with a strawberry cilantro salsa. It sounds weird, but the sweetness of the berries with the heat of the spice allowed the fruit to shine through in each sip. If beef is more your style, then grilled steaks — plain or with a reduction sauce — would complement this wine perfectly.

This is a new label for this winery, so if you are used to the big loon on the old label, take note of the new look. This wine is the brain child of the Sebastiani clan, Don, August and Donny, representing the third and fourth generations of this great winemaking family.

With Smoking Loon, they wanted to make exceptional examples consistently year after year. They source their fruit from different vineyards to ensure the highest-quality grapes and consistent flavors.

Bradford tries to review only wines available in South Carolina. If you have trouble finding one, e-mail lain@winetalk.org.