These three wines could be blindly substituted for higher values wines.
CG Di Arie zin 2003 Amador $14 I paid less because the wine shop was going out of business.
Chaim Gur-Arieh owner winemaker is going for fruit ester extraction. He has hydraulic primary firmentation tanks that push the cap into the fruit juice. He is the inventer of cereal Capt Crunch and Power bars and other classic foods.
Fruit: blueberry boyesenberry very fruit forward.
sweetness: balances the acid well
Acid: tartaric slight taste on finish
Tannin: nice tannin finish
Covey Run 2001 Syrah Washington State $3
fruit: Syrah grape flavor
acid/tannin very integrated and soft hard to pull out of taste profile. Some may think there is not enough.
sweetness: not noticable
With its synethic cork slowing its aging I would say it was at its peak. Best $3 wine I have had. If you like syrah then buy a case of this for your every day wine. I have had some bad wines that I have paid >$20 for that were not as good as this. I would be happy with this as an every day wine. Too bad I only bought two.
Robert Hall Syrah Paso Robles 2002 $15
Fruit: Plum Syrah flavor
Acid/tannin: very soft and integrated
Sweetness: Not distinct enough to characterize.