Ravenswood Besieged – Dark and Mysterious

It’s only September and I’m already seeing Christmas junk on display in stores.  Have they forgotten about Halloween?  It’s one of my favorite holidays, although I haven’t taken the time to celebrate it much in the past few years.  Plus a lot folks say that I’m too old for Halloween.

I think Halloween should be celebrated by all ages.  And a number of wine producers appear to agree with me and have been creating special wines to celebrate Halloween.  Really, what’s a better beverage to have on Halloween than some blood red wine?

Besieged from Ravenswood is one such special release for Halloween.  What’s funny is that I probably would have included Ravenswood on my Halloween wine list even without a special release.

This wine is a blend of petite sirah, carignane, zinfandel, syrah, barbera, alicante bouschet and mourvèdre.  I like that they chose some wines with exotic, mysterious sounding names.

This wine is a little more purple than “blood red” as I had hoped, but it’s still a beautiful color.  The aromas are dark and mysterious, offering intense cherry, blackberry, plum, leather and exotic spices.  It’s a bold wine on the palate, bringing rich wild cherry, blackberry, plum, coffee and a brooding, earthy bitterness to offer a counterpoint to the fruit.  That bitterness may be disturbing to some.  It finishes with lingering spice flavors that heighten your senses.  This is not a polite wine.  It’s dark, bold and challenging.  Yet it’s enticing.  It seems appropriate for Halloween.

Do you dare try it?

Wine: Ravenswood Besieged
Variety: Petite sirah, carignane, zinfandel, syrah, barbera, alicante bouschet and mourvèdre
Vintage: 2013
Alcohol: 14.5%
Rating: 86
Price: $16.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.

Find Ravenswood Besieged with Snooth