Gallo Family Vineyards – Syrah Rosé – 2007

Where: Sainsbury’s Offer – Reduced to £3.99
Winemaker: Gallo Family Vineyards
Type: Syrah Rosé
Origin: California, USA
Year: 2007

Having found their Zinfandel Rosé to be fairly disappointing, I was hoping for something nicer in this budget wine from Gallo Family Vineyards. The Zinfandel was certainly sweeter…

I judge wine in keeping with Dylan Moran’s perception: there are three kinds, which can be described simply as ‘the good’, ‘the bad’ and the rare ‘ugly-but-drinkable’. One would expect a Rosé wine to be sweet and, when first opened, this wine certainly filled my nostrils with a sweet and unmistakable scent of ripe summer berries and similar fruits. However, its sweetness ended there…

The wine is certainly not very dry, nor is it particularly sweet. I’ve tasted both extremely dry and extremely sweet wines whilst in various areas of France and still cannot understand Californian wines: there is a distinct lingering aftertaste of ethanol, dry and spicy in an unpleasant way.
However, I deal mostly with budget wines; cheap and cheerful. This wine is not subtle and there’s a lack of consistency between the sweet and fruity first sip – or gulp depending upon how you like to drink – and the second, which is raw and dry; the lingering mist of ethanol coating your tongue.

Summary: Sweet on opening, then overpowered by alcoholic taste.

Is this wine worth the money? Yes!

Does it taste like vodka mixed with cherry pop? Hints at it.

Would I serve it to a guest? No.

Score:  4/10