Guest Author - Jim Fortune

2003 Bordeaux Sirius
Year:2003
Winery:Sirius / Maison Sichel Negociant A Bordeaux
Region/Country:Bordeaux
Varietal:55% Merlot / 45% Cabernet

When I bought this wine, I was back in my comfort zone. After trying the $18.99 bottle without success, when I saw this one for $13.99 my heart raced. The last time I tried a Bordeaux in the price range, I actually tasted cherries. So I bought this bottle and carefully took it home.

To be perfectly honest, I do not know what I expected. Each time I tried a bottle of Bordeaux, I was disappointed. But I got the wine into the house and introduced it to the other bottles I had in my small cellar, so it would feel at home. On Friday night, I took it to the kitchen, and popped the cork. I have learned that with Bordeaux, you have to let the wine breathe. I left it alone on the counter for 45 minutes. I did take a sniff to see what it was like after popping the cork. After 45 minutes, I poured a glass. I let that glass breathe too - about 30 minutes. I did take a sniff and swirled the wine around in the glass so that it had a chance to get the maximum amount of air. And periodically, I sniffed the wine to see what changes I noticed in the wine, if any.

My first sniff, was a non event. By that I mean, when I sniffed, I did not smell any fruit or oak or anything. It smelled like wine. As time went on, both in the bottle and later in the glass, the wine did open up. I don't know why I am putting it that way, but that is what it seemed like.

By the time I was ready to take a sip, I noticed a hint of oak. It was an old oak smell, but just a hint. The color was dark purple - like grape juice. It had a strong achohol taste and was very dry. It had no fruit taste, that I could tell anyway. And it tasted like grapes but not the kind of taste that is pleasant and one you want to repeat over and over, do you know what I mean?

I was disappointed with this wine. I really thought that by going back to my comfort zone below $15 a bottle that I would find that the lower priced wines tasted better than the higher priced wines, but the wine I tasted for $15.99 was the best of the bunch. I would say you should try this wine yourself given that it is only $13.99. The wine did take Bronze at the "Challenge International du Vin" in 2005, so maybe it will meet your expectations. It did not meet mine however.

Until next time, let me know what is on your mind, and how you are doing, O.K.?

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Jim Fortune - the Bella Online Wine Guy