Price Comparisons and other info . . .
$22.00 - Personalcellar.com Total = $96.07 (Including Shipping) $51.08 Savings with woot!!!
$25.00 - DrinkBetterWine.com Total = $100 (Free Shipping) $56.01 Savings with woot!!!
Looks like a decent wine, although I’m sure there are some pretty strong feelings about metal screw caps. grin
Prices at other online retailers seem to range from $12-30/bottle. Reviews are good, but I haven’t been able to find any that give more information than Woot provided (ie. berry/chocolate flavor with a hint of vanilla).
Found this link: on sale in PA liquor stores for $12.99 (says reg $18.99):
Describes it as a “dark ruby/purple-colored, soft, fruity Syrah Blue Oaks is an easy going, light, seductive effort that should have huge crowd appeal.”
Doesn’t look like you can buy it online, these are local stores, maybe the stores offer shipping. That is a great deal compared to what I found (woot still wins).
I broke down and bought some. I should be saving money, dammit!
On screw caps: They’re better than corks in almost every way. There are some people that claim wine can’t age without a cork, but I’m not sure that’s true. After all, i’ve aged beer in non-cork airtight seals – it could be that there is some chemical difference between wine and beer that I don’t know about, but I’ve noticed HUGE differences between fresh and aged high-alcohol beer where no cork was involved. True, they were bottle-conditioned brews, but I’m pretty sure the yeast die relatively soon after bottling.
In any case, if they don’t age because there’s no gas exchange, all that means is that your first bottle will taste exactly the same as your last, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Plus, it also means you can store the bottles vertically because you don’t have to worry about the cap drying out. And, you don’t have to worry about your unsophisticated friends not having a corkscrew when you bring them a bottle for dinner. Best of all, in my opinion, screw caps don’t impart any off-flavors to your wine. (In the interest of full disclosure, nearly everything I just said about corks I learned from beeradvocate.com. I think it was in the beer 101 section.)
Really, the only downside to caps is it makes you look less sophisticated.
Having read a lot of the research, the logical part of me knows that screw caps and synthetic stoppers are superior in their ability to keep out air, thus preserving the bottle.
That said, I also know that the vasy majority of good wine still has a natural cork, so I have to do a ton of homework to take a chance on and capped wine.
I don’t think the 35.99 quote from GoudasandVines is comparable, because it’s a different Syrah from this winery. I believe they offer at least three (Carneros, Wildcat Mountain and Paso Robles (wot’s offering)), and the one woot is offering is generally the least expensive.
Good catch, I apologize
No apology necessary. I appreciate your research!!!
Is it just me, or would everyone else rather spend $45 on two bottles of commonly accepted GOOD wine instead of spending $45 on four bottles of wine that may or may not be good?
I wanna Woot, I really do, but I just can’t justify it on an unknown like this. Maybe if someone posted something about how the Syrah from that region kicked ass in 2003 I’d go ahead and get it, but I didn’t find anything out there in Google land…
Well, I assume you were all over the Phelps Syrah which cost about twice as much. My question is, how much more is the Phelps REALLY worth? It has a much better reputation, but I doubt that it will be twice as good as this.
Based on how much I enjoyed the unkown Abandon, I’m very happy with woot’s endeavors to provide potentially greater values in these less well known wines.
I imagine that the better known wineries who produce more critically-acclaimed wines are less hungry to offer Woot great deals than those wineries trying to develop their market share further later in the game. We are the fortunate beneficiaries of their desire.
Don’t underestimate Macrostie. Consistently superior wines for the last several years.
"Is it just me, or would everyone else rather spend $45 on two bottles of commonly accepted GOOD wine instead of spending $45 on four bottles of wine that may or may not be good? "
Well, this is woot, so I would hope it’s mostly just you, just because I think we’re more likely to get the latter. I do have more confidence in the quality, which I suppose comes from the half case of Abandon (excellent) that my girl & I have killed. Anyway, I prefer to spend around $12/bottle for wine, if I’m buying at a store. That’s usually plenty to get a very passable bottle. So this is about what I’m looking for, generally. I’m hoping to spend around that much and get a bottle worth $18 or more. I’m not sold yet, incidentally, but I’m close. The Central Coast is an excellent area for Syrahs-I just noticed I have a 2003 Beckman in my fridge. I tasted that a few months ago-it’s a winery a little south of there in the Santa Barbara area. Most Syrahs are usually around $25-30/bottle in that area, and I thought they were generally excellent. It’s not the exact same- Paso v Santa Barbara, but it’s all central coast. The following is from this link: http://www.specialtyfood.com/do/news/ViewNewsArticle?id=2258
"The 2004 vintage has also given Paso Robles a boost. Wine Spectator columnist James Laube writes, “Many Paso Robles vintners think the quality of the 2004 vintage may make it a breakout year for their appellation, at least for Syrah.”
Austin Hope, winemaker at Treana Winery and winemaker/owner at his eponymous winery, adds, “Paso Robles is more consistent than Napa and Sonoma. We have a lot of sunshine, so there are very few green wines. Napa has to watch for rain during harvest. We just don’t have it here.” About the only thing Paso Robles winemakers have to worry about is letting their grapes get too much sunshine, which can send sugar levels and thus, alcohol, sky high.
Matthias Gubler, winemaker at Vina Robles, thinks the 2003 vintage might have been even better than 2004. He describes his Cabernet Sauvignon and Petite Sirah from that year as “awesome.” And yet, Gubler says, “we will see better vintages in the future as vineyards mature.”
I have to say I was VERY excited to see that this weeks Wine Woot is a Macrostie.
I’ve been drinking their wines for a number of years now. I’m generally not that into California Chardonnay because they are often so over oaked but a few years ago I discovered MAcrosties and it’s consistent every year… Their Merlot is also teriffic. As far as their Syrahs I have not had this one though I have had the Wildcat Mountain Syrah. However Paso Robles does tend to do really well with Rhone varietals of which Syrah is one…
Well, I bought last week’s pinot and am eagerly awaiting the first taste, but on this I’ll take a pass. It’s not the screwtop (although, I have to admit that it annoys me. Iknow, I know, it’s better and there’s a strong possibility cork will dissapear blah, blah, blah…I just like cork.)
What I am waiting for is a good cab or even a blend (shiraz-cab perhaps?)…c’mon woot, give us the really good stuff…and if I can request-Cinnabar?
Unfortunately, while I watch the normal Woot fairly regularly, I didn’t see wine.woot.com until late last week and missed out on it.
Considering the fact that I’m a fan of the Rhone wines from France, I guess I could give this a try…
And, I guess I stand corrected with regards to other Wooters and their wants. 
just to throw in my bit with the screw caps, i recently picked up a couple bottles of white that in the past had been cork tops. got them home, went to open one up, and was utterly confused to find it a screw cap (i wasn’t all that observant while in the store) but once my moderate surprise died down, it was incredibly easy to open, not a problem, and tasted every bit as good as the vintages i had with the corks. and on top of that, we left one bottle about half finished, able to seal it back up with the screw top, and enjoy it a couple days later, something i really didn’t like doing with a cork top.
so i am all for the screw tops.
and yea, i’m in for this woot, syrah is a great varietal
Ahh what the hell, I ordered 2.
Being in NJ I expect to see my order around August 1. No biggie, I’m just happy to have wine.woot searching out for new things for me to try.