The other night I was snooping around one of our local wine shops and was told that I “had” to try the 2007 Barrel 27 Head Honcho Syrah. As I’m sure you’ve gathered by now, rarely will I turn down an opportunity to try a new wine. So here we are, with a bottle in front of me from a winery that I’ve never even heard of before. So this could go either way…
But first I had to do a little digging. Apparently, Barrel 27 Wine Company is an outfit from Paso Robles, California. They’ve been around for just over ten years, and source their grapes from various growers in the Central Coast region. Now, I’m not normally for wine makers that don’t grow their own grapes, but Barrel 27 seems to be doing a decent job at making quality wines at reasonable prices so they must be doing something right.
The 2007 Head Honcho is a deep, dark red with just a hint of purple. In other words, it look exactly like a Syrah should look. The nose is a little closed, even with some quick aeration into the decanter. There are definite spikes of red fruits and plums, with traces of earthy, coffee-like scents and a hint of cedar.
The flavours of the body are also hard to ascertain without a good amount of air, but I do imagine a few years of cellaring would make a big difference. The red fruits are still apparent here, with raspberries standing out the most. 
An edge of dark chocolate can also be tasted, along with what I can only describe as the sweet bite of ripe fig.
It finishes dry and with a very acceptable length.
All in all, Barrel 27 has produced a pretty good bottle. As mentioned before, I think it will definitely improve if given a few years to mature.
They do also make another Syrah that goes by the name Right Hand Man, with a slightly different approach and flavor profile that might be worth investigating.
One other item of note was that Barrel 27 have gone with the old-school method of sealing the top of the bottle, using wax to cover the cork. I am a big fan of this method, so they do get extra credit for that.
Synopsis:
Availability: Good
Price: Average ~$35
D’s Rating: 3.5/5
Notes: A good Syrah more in the French than Australian style. Will improve with time.
p.s. Where did I get this wine from? See store #1 on my list of stores that I frequent. It’s actually their wine pick of the week.
dustonthebottle 