Stump Jump Shiraz

Name: Stump Jump Shiraz
Color: Red
Varietal: Shiraz
Vintage: 2008
Country/State: Australia
Region: McLaren Valley
Price: $10
Stars: 3.5 (out of 5)

The Stump Jump Shiraz was recently featured in the St. Petersburg Times as the Wine of the Week. When I saw a bottle on sale for $10, I picked one up. Krista and I have always enjoyed the big fruity, jammy taste of a good Shiraz from Australia, so we took it with us for our day after Christmas meal at her parents' house. This wine also placed in the Top 100 of Wine Spectator's best wines of 2009.

Unfortunately for us, the tasting of this wine was tainted by some poor glassware at the in-laws house. The first two glasses we tried were plagued by a soapy smell that over-powered the wine. After rinsing the glasses, we were able to salvage one, but I ended up drinking mine out of a green plastic disposable picnic cup. Still, the wine itself was as we expected, full of blackberry and raspberry flavors with a nice mouthfeel and a decent finish. We will definitely have to try it again with better glasses.