Mayu Selected Vineyards Syrah 2008

I was pleased to see this on offer from Waitrose. I am a big fan of Chilean Syrah, and quite frankly we don't see enough of it in the shops.

Mayu's Reserva bottling is frequently bandied about as a 5 star wine, and it's dirt cheap as well (I think it's around £12 if you can find it). It looks like I didn't give it a particularly great review (3/5) but I remember it being good at least. Some of the more recent Syrah I've had from Chile has made more of an impression though.

Either way this was worth trying and I did like it. Chilean Syrah has it's own character. Yes it has the pepper and spice and all that, but it also has a sharp, almost sour (in a good, savoury way) character to it that I always recognize, and it immediately makes my mouth water. It can be a bit rich - it's good for slow sipping. It has some chocolate notes as well which makes chocolate the first food match to come to mind when trying to pair a particularly rich example.

As far as this example goes, I think it's a good wine at a good price and would recommend stocking up before Feb. 15th when the offer ends.

Mayu

Selected Vineyards Syrah 2008

Elqui Valley, Chile

Waitrose

£6.99 (£9.49)

3/5