Kalyra Cashmere Blend No. 57

It was someone else’s turn to do the pouring this evening. I was on the road and a fantastic storm was whipping up. I really didn’t feel like driving through it – in fact I was afraid there might be hail on its way – and the haven of her safe garage was beckoning. What a fantastic display of lightning though! And of course, what better opportunity to pour a class of wine and wait out the storm?

What did I tell you about this movie Sideways? It seems to be a phenomenon with the people that market or write about wine. I’m really curious what its effect has been on wine sales. World Market is advertising some of the wines it stocks as those seen in the movie – so obviously they must be good, right? Anyway, today’s choice is one from one of the wineries seen in the movie. It comes from the Kalyra winery. Among a bunch of other wines they produce from the grapes in Santa Barbera county (which you can read about here) one of them is the $10 Cashmere Blend No. 57. I don’t know what the “57” is all about. (Forget that 37 in the article I linked to above. It must be a typo.) Anyway, it’s a blend of cabernet franc, shiraz and merlot. Unclear as to what percentages.

Considering it costs less than half as much as the De Loach merlot I posted about yesterday, I’m liking this. It’s not going to knock your socks off or anything, but it’s got a nice burst of dark cherry flavors and enough structure to give it some decent mouth feel. Pleasant, though little to nothing lingering on the finish.

Price

$10 at World Market in NW Austin.

Overall

Good. I’m enjoying it more than that 2000 De Loach Merlot that was twice the price.