California vs Washington State Syrah Showdown

California vs Washington State Syrah Showdown – Episode #461

May 8, 2008

Today in a head to head confrontation Gary Vaynerchuk pits 2 Syrahs against each other, one from Washington State and the other from California.

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Comments on this episode(164) Leave a comment ›

“You Made Some Good Points There. I Did a Search on the Topic and Found…” by Knipe
“Looking for a Washington Syrah on Google brought me to this episode.
…” by mrzitro
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Wines tasted in this episode:

2005 Rhapsody3 Syrah
2005 Gramercy Cellars Walla Walla Valley Syrah

164 Responses

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May 8, 2008

purplejuicebruce
QOTD …I don’t remember what it was but I had saved it for a couple years and it was CORKED.
May 8, 2008

manonthemoon
Nice head to head too bad they were overhyped.

QOTD: Most of my $30 and above wines are hits because they are my weekend wines. The 2004 Worthy cab is the one that comes to mind, very disappointing for right under the 30 dollar mark.
May 8, 2008

KyBoy
QOTD: Tyrus Evans Syrah from Wa State. I can’t remember what year it was…I’m thinking 2004. The tannins seemed overpowering, however, it may have needed a few hours to decant (which it didn’t get).

Gary, huge shout out to you for your appearence on the Big Idea last night. It got me all sorts of FIRED UP. My entrepreneur(ial) spirit has been on overdrive trying to drum up ideas for my own business combining passion and knowledge. Again, well done!
May 8, 2008

Xavier
just saw Mark mentioning a Guigal CDP also.. Ive also had one of these.. a 2001 though i think.. and got 93 rating..I do love CDP but i think for less money i enjoyed the clos de loratoire des papes a lot more.
May 8, 2008

Xavier
most 30$ (or more) wines I recently ordered are still in the cellar waiting for the right time.. as for now most of the time im stil trying new areas and new things at a lesser pricepoint.. but if there was one big dissapointment .. it was this one (and only) Brunello I had so far.. was a bottle my dad bought at a supermarket at a way too low price to be a good brunello.. didnt bring any thunder for sure.
May 8, 2008

JudeMurphy
Thanks again Gary!
I’ve just spent the last hour or so watching your trip to Bordeaux this time last year, so now I’m thirsty for some Bordeaux and I’ve got none on me! Oh the pain! : ( haha
Got nothin’ for the QOTD… sorry!
A demain… ; )
May 8, 2008

GenericGuy
QOTD: Pierrier Jouet Champagne… the oak ruined it, definitely not my thing.
May 8, 2008

bfrankphoto
QOTD – Never bought a $30 wine.
May 8, 2008

Jay
Gotta love the head to head match ups. You need to kick that off with the old school Monday Night Football helmet explosion. Do you know what I’m talking about?

QOTD: If I’m opening a $30 bottle, I’m going to enjoy it because it’s going to be for a fairly special occasion. No complaints on nights like those.
May 8, 2008

John Blue Label
GV,
Really like the format. For us time challenged people, the 10 minute, 2 wine death match is a great format. I agree with EK, need 2 glasses.
JWB
May 8, 2008

UTshock
I really enjoy the head to heads. However, I wouldn’t mind seeing a NFL-like introduction with the 2 bottles slamming into each, sparks flying everywhere, and an over-the-top announcer saying, “Gramercy Cellars! Rhapsody3! Only on WLTV!” I think I would enjoy that.

QOTD: I try and forget most $30 bottles I’ve had and didn’t like. I do remember having a 2003(?) Sunstone Estate Syrah that was incredibly boring.
May 8, 2008

jimkay
Yeah – more Washington State.

QOTD: Tablas Creek
May 8, 2008

Mojave Joe
Lagniappe is pronounced ‘lan-yap’ not ‘lang-a-pay.’
May 8, 2008

Elias
Gary, I am not surprised that the Washington wine scored higher. I have had an overall better experience when I drink a Washington wine. THey are usually very silky and smooth for my palate. I have a suggestion….can you please use a different glass for each wine you taste? Whenever, I use the same glass there seems to be a residue left over that affects my take on wine tasting unless I rinse it better. I think it will definitely affect the smell since some of the previous wine stays on the wall of the glass. Keep up the good job.
May 8, 2008

Mark S
QOTD: 2003 Guigal Chateauneuf-du-Pape
May 8, 2008

leif erik sundstrom
QOTD: Absolutely the 1997 jaboulet Hermitage – Blech. although, this was actually $35…. So at $30 It would have to be Oregon’s Penner-Ash Syrah. Her wines are like someone carved out the heart with a scalpel while wearing a white lab coat. I’d hate to have to use her bathroom.

funny, both of these were syrahs, perhaps i’m uber picky about my syrah.
May 8, 2008

leif erik sundstrom
QOTD: Absolutely the 1997 jaboulet Hermitage – Blech. although, this was actually $35…. So at $30 It would have to be Oregon’s Penner-Ash Syrah. Her wines are like some carved out the heart with a scalpel while wearing a white lab coat. I’d hate to have to use her bathroom.

funny, both of these were syrahs, perhaps i’m uber picky about my syrah.
May 8, 2008

Phil G
Lame – this was more like a pillow fight than a steel cage match…

QOTD – I don’t remember… I just had an older California Sav Blanc that cost around that, and was WAY too oaky. It was kind of gross, actually.
May 8, 2008

I-lurk
The head2heads are great. Gary, how about doing a paper-bag blind head2head? Have your staff pick out three (or more) wines in the same family with drastically different price points. Would looooove to see how that goes. Oh….. and no peaking.

QOD. 30 bones is too rich for my blood, I’ve have found plenty of
May 8, 2008

Zinny
QOTD – Landmark Chardonnay. I consider this and wines like it to be the inspiration for the Anything But Chardonnay club (which I am not a member of).
May 8, 2008

cameron w
Love the Head to Heads.

Can’t recall a specific example of $30 disappoinment, but do know that there’s been a few.
May 8, 2008

Karl Laczko
Nice head-to-head show. Playing catch up on the episodes at the moment, on to Wednesday’s!

QOTD – I haven’t had any disappointments in that price range. Maybe a few that weren’t bargains, but all eminently drinkable.
May 8, 2008

McAdamSandwich
Head to head battles are always fun.

QOTD – Haven’t had one yet, so I’ll post back when I do.
May 8, 2008

Christian
Good show. I’ve been pretty fortunate with my $30 wine purchases to date, probably because I’m usually staying between 10 & 20 bones!
May 8, 2008

JoeShmo
neat format, i liked it, different, keep things mixed up
QOTD: $30 DOLLARS, GOOD LORD. im in college lol its 15 or below for me.