2001 Domaine des Causses Lirac: Surprisingly Soft

I'm not usually a fan of Syrah, I tend to favor Shiraz... however, the Lirac is a pleasure to drink! This is a French wine, from the Southern Rhone Valley - and is made of 100% Syrah grapes. This particular type of wine is usually made with a blend of grenache and syrah, so this is a particularly interesting wine. As a result this wine is very lavish, almost hedonistic. The flavors you will pick up on the strongest would be blackberry and black raspberry fruit flavors. This is a full bodied wine, and the interesting thing about this wine is that it’s got lots of great color -- without all the tannins -- so it’s softer than you would expect. This would be best with strong blue cheeses and / or Leg of Lamb.