In-Store Review: Laurus Syrah 2007 January 11, 2011

By Alex Sawit

11 January 2011

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Many years ago, I asked a sweet old Spanish lady to explain to me what a salerosa is.

Although no one really says this Hispanic word in the Philippines anymore, I’d heard that generations ago it was eagerly exclaimed by smitten colonial bachelors, who used it to describe the bewitching mestizas of our country whom they fell madly in love with. The lady explained it to me vaguely, however. She simply said that a salerosa is a pretty girl with a certain something. “It means cute,” she cheerfully added after phoning a friend just to offer me a second opinion.

But there are cute girls and then there are cute girls. Reading between the lines, I realized that no proper Spanish lady could bring herself to explain it any further, especially to a young man. Only gentlemen of a bygone era were free to talk about the fairer sex that poignantly. How the world has changed. Nowadays we vulgar brutes just say, “Dude, that chick is ******* hot!”

I’ve been using this elegant word ever since.

But being a wine lover, I also find it fun to describe a sensuous, luscious bodied, amorously arousing wine that catches my fancy as a “salerosa” (the last time was for a pair of Chilean beauties, whose Hispanic backgrounds made the description perfectly appropriate). That’s just how I want to describe the Laurus Syrah 2007, which has become the new darling of folks at the shop.

Laurus is the prestige brand of Maison Gabriel Meffre, a highly esteemed winery and négociant founded in 1936 in the Rhône Valley wine region of France. To Cyrano friends who have tasted the Laurus Syrah, if you’ve sensed something familiar it’s because Gabriel Meffre also produces the Fat Bastard Shiraz that you like.

But as much as you and I enjoy that Shiraz with the happy hippo on the label, it comes across as thin and rough by comparison. The more graceful, deeply purpled Laurus Syrah is all about what’s ripe and ravishing. On the nose, there is greater depth to the Laurus, melding dark espresso, violet and faint traces of cinnamon. In the mouth the difference intensifies. The Laurus feels shapely and smooth, its taste offering a seductive concentration of stewed blueberries, cocoa and licorice, ending with a peppery, long-legged pose of spice and everything nice. Darn, I love this wine! It hits the spot.

Laurus Syrah 2007 retails at the wine shop for PhP 700 a bottle, actually a down-to-earth price for something so alluring. For me that’s like finding a gorgeous woman who is the honest opposite of a high-maintenance princess.

What real man wouldn’t want to drink that? Viva salerosas!

CYRANO’S RATING:

  VERY GOOD (Score 8.0)