La Czar Syrah

Wine: La Czar Syrah.

Grape: Syrah

Region: Russian River Valley, Calif.

Vintage: 2007

Price: $9.99

In the glass: La Czar wine is a blackish-purple color with a deeply opaque inky core going out into a bright violet-red rim definition with medium-high painted viscosity.

On the nose: The wine has an attractive and concentrated medley of crushed black fruits with boysenberries, ripe cranberries, black currants, loganberries, and then hints of graphite, eucalyptus leaves, sun-dried blueberries, star anise, Ribena and plum liqueur.

On the palate: There is a profound concentration of black berry fruit with lots of cherries, blackberries, slightly spicy huckleberries, boysenberry juice, blueberry pie, licorice and smoked meat. The midpalate is round and generous with supple tannins that are in complete harmony with the fruit in the wine, ultimately resulting in a long, solid finish that reaffirms the pedigree of this well-made wine.

Odds and ends: Where do you find even a halfway decent California syrah for less than $20? You normally don’t should be the answer, until I tasted this La Czar Syrah from the popular Russian River Valley. Thinking this was possibly more than $40 per bottle, I did a double-take upon learning that it was actually a tremendously reasonable $10 per bottle, and that only 625 cases were made. Now that’s a recession buster if there ever was one! It has all the hallmarks of a small boutique-style wine that has been meticulously handcrafted and sold to mailing-list-only customers. Instead, I found it here in the retail market at Lee’s and that certainly was a nice late summer stunner. Kudos to winemaker Rick Davis who has made a superb drinking wine. La Czar Syrah is not only built for aging, but also for a good, juicy rib-eye steak right off the grill. Drink it now through 2016, and open at least one hour in advance to allow the wine some time to breathe.

Gil Lempert-Schwarz’s wine column appears Wednesdays. Write him at P.O. Box 50749, Henderson, NV 89106-0749, or email him at gil@winevegas.com.