Tag Archives: Shannon Ridge Wrangler Red

Wine of the week: Shannon Ridge Wrangler Red 2020

Shannon Ridge Wrangler Red bottle
Shannon Ridge Wrangler Red 2020/$11-$15

California red blend speaks to the state’s great cheap wine history — and the scourge of availability

This California red blend first appeared on the blog in 2015, but has only been the wine of the week once since then.

Its absence has nothing to do with its quality, of course. It’s a classic California red blend, the kind that used to be quite common before everything had to be cabernet sauvignon or pinot noir or the new au courant varietal.

Its absence? Though I bought it in Dallas in 2015, I rarely saw it on store shelves after that. Because wine availability isn’t supposed to make any sense, is it?

Which is too bad, because the 2020 version of the Wrangler Red ($12, purchased, 13.9%) is even better than the last two — Hall of Fame quality, in fact.

It does all that this style of wine — once known as a field blend — should do. That means fruity but not sweet, balanced, and even more going on than just the fruit. Some herbs maybe? Some mocha? And not too tannic, either. That’s even more impressive since the six-grape blend (zinfandel, syrah, petite sirah, merlot, mourvedre, and cabernet franc) could be overwhelming. It’s not like the first two are especially subtle.

Highly recommended, and just the thing for almost any holiday dinner that isn’t fish (and I’m not so sure that it wouldn’t work with salmon).

Wine of the week: Shannon Ridge Wrangler Red 2016

Shannon Ridge Wrangler Red The Shannon Ridge Wrangler Red is what we don’t see often enough – great, cheap California red wine

One of the blog’s great laments is the lack of quality cheap California wine. There’s lots of cheap wine, of course, but not much that most of us would want to drink. Because, as one of the blog’s regular visitors and a longtime California winemaker once told me, “we all decided we needed to become famous.”

Enter the Shannon Ridge Wrangler Red ($12, purchased, 13.9%). This red blend does what so many others don’t care to do – offer quality wine at a fair price that tastes like it comes from California. It’s a blend of syrah, petite sirah, tempranillo, and zinfandel, but remains balanced and interesting even though that grape combination can produce a six-megaton fruit bomb.

Look for some some sweet fruit (red berries?), but it’s not a sweet wine. There are soft tannins in the back, bracing the structure, just as they should, and there’s even a bit of acidity. In all of this, it’s not smooth, and that’s a good thing.

Highly recommended, and especially for anyone who likes this style of wine. And don’t be surprised to see it the Shannon Ridge Wrangler Red in the 2021 $10 Hall of Fame.

And, because I no longer understand how the wine business works, the 2012 vintage, which was also terrific, cost $14, $2 more than this one.