Burrowing Owl’s tasting room was three folks deep with ‘splash and dashers’ last August when we dropped in for a peek. They wouldn’t give me an industry discount and weren’t terribly knowledgeable about wine in general to be honest.

I enjoyed other wineries we visited better, but did purchase this Syrah and opened it tonight to drink alongside BBQ’d steak with Montreal spice and fresh market salad.

Clear and bright, deep ruby with legs, on the nose it’s clean with medium plus, intense aromas of sweet baking spice, cassis and lightly confected tobacco leaves. The 14.5% alcohol is prominent in this developing wine.

The palate is dry but definitely has a sweet flavour that probably would have liked a BBQ sauce better than the Montreal steak spice, or perhaps even BBQ’d peaches with the meat. Acidity is medium and the tannins are velvety and smooth.

The alcohol is high on the nose, but here on the taste buds it’s integrated and the body is medium. Flavour intensity is medium as well and features sweet fieldberry, acai, clove, cherry and toffee. It’s not cloying, but definitely it’s noticeably sweeter than the average Syrah. The finish on this is medium.

A WSET good wine. The sweetness combined with the high alcohol on the nose detract from the general quality. That said, the fruit is fresh and full and the wine is nicely structured.