An Unusual Sparkling Shiraz From MollyDooker

Sparkling Shiraz, you say?  Yes.  They’ve been around for years, but have yet to gain widespread popularity.  Usually the good ones are too expensive to appeal to the curious customer.  No way in hell I would gamble my money on an expensive sparkling Shiraz.  But luckily, working in the wine industry has it’s perks ;) .

The 2006 MollyDooker “GooseBumps” sparkling Shiraz is one unique wine!  It’s a full blown Shiraz, done MollyDooker style (15% abv).  This robust, jammy fruit bomb is then treated to the “charmat method.”  Basically the wine does its secondary fermentation in large pressurized tanks.  The wine is then bottled under pressure, to preserve the carbonation.  This process is much cheaper than the more traditional Champagne method, where the wine goes through secondary fermentation in the bottle, producing finely integrated natural carbonation.

This wine should be served ice cold, as other sparkling wine would.  And pair it with heavier fare than you would pair with traditional sparklers.

The breakdown– this wine exudes aromas of dark chocolate, raisins, strawberry, blueberry and violet.  And the fruit on the palate matches the aromas well, exploding with effervescence.  Just keep in mind that this wine will do some damage at 15% abv, compared to most sparkling wines that weigh in around 12% alcohol.

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