In the spring of 2009, motivated by a copy of the latest Wine Spectator, founder Kevin Mehra set out on a mission to bring high-quality wine to the market for exceptional values.
90+ specializes in sourcing juice from some of the highest-quality wineries worldwide, buying up excess juice to produce their own exceptional bottles.
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90+ Cellars Lot 183 Shiraz Review
All of the juice for this particular bottle is sourced from Southern Australia, a high-quality region that is home to some of the world’s finest Shiraz.
Long, warm summers allow the grapes to reach optimal ripeness, imparting a sense of richness and body that is uniquely Australian in style.
90+ Cellars Lot 183 Shiraz Summary
- Brand: 90+ Cellars
- Country: Australia
- Region: South Australia
- Wine Type: Red Wine
- Varietal: Shiraz
- ABV: 13.8%
Appearance
The wine is an inky purple color in the glass, with thick, dense legs that form quickly and cascade down readily.
Smell
This wine has an abundance of ripe, fresh fruit on the nose, along with plenty of rich spice.
Plums, fresh blackberries, and wild black cherries fill the nose. Supporting the fruit characteristics are some lovely secondary notes.
I get lotsof mocha, tobacco, and black pepper, along with a bit of a wet clay smell.
Taste
This is a fantastic, easy-to-drink Shiraz. The wine sports lots of deep, dark fruit, which makes up the core of the flavor profile.
Alongside the fruit, you get notes of tobacco, leather, spice, and dark chocolate.
The wine sports a lovely texture as well as flavor. There is a good bit of tannin here, but it does not feel as though it is trying to kick your teeth in.
Rather, it comes across in fine, grainy waves and really uplifts the body of the wine.
What Do 90+ Cellars Lot 183 Shiraz Pair With?
In a word, burgers! I would recommend toasting the bun and giving the patty itself a slight char, as the resulting flavors work particularly well with the fresh fruit in this bottle.
All of the rich, fatty flavor in the burger matches power with power nicely when paired with this wine, and the contrasting flavors help uplift each other.
Not a meat eater? No problem! A nice, juicy portobello burger works amazingly well with this wine.
The intensely savory umami flavor takes the place of the hedonistically fatty flavors of the burger.
I would recommend topping this one with either smoked gouda or soft blue cheese, as either works well with the wine on its own.
What Wines Are Similar to 90+ Cellars Lot 183 Shiraz?
Personally, I wholeheartedly recommend trying other Shiraz and Syrah if you enjoy this bottle. Shiraz and Syrah are actually the same grape, but with a different name.
Syrah is the traditional French name for the grape. Shiraz is a more modern word for the varietal, which seems to have originated in Australia.
Nowadays, the name a winery uses typically conveys what style of the grape they are trying to produce.
Syrah tends to be heavier, gamey, and more robust, whereas Shiraz leans heavily into the rich, decadent, dark fruit that the grape can sport.
I also recommend trying Petite Sirah, which is another big, robust style of wine.
Petite Sirah typically features notes of big dark fruit, black pepper, smoke, and dark chocolate, and is another of my favorite wines to throw up against a tasty burger!
Interestingly enough, despite similar names, Petite Sirah and Syrah are actually different grapes. Petite Sirah is, however, a crossbreed of Syrah and another nearly-extinct varietal.
Final Thoughts
Overall I definitely enjoyed this wine. It may be a bit of a lighter style for people who are used to more intense styles of Syrah from France or California, but it still holds its own.
I have always found that 90+ Cellars overdelivers on quality for the price tag, and this bottle is definitely no different.