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The Kings Of Prohibition Cabernet Shiraz Blend is a blend of 51% Cabernet Sauvignon and 49% Shiraz (Syrah) sourced from vineyards in the Barossa district of Southeast Australia. This a brand from Calabria Family Wines, a winery founded in 1945.
I found this wine selling at Trader Joe’s for $8.99; while the Kings of Prohibition wines are not TJ’s exclusives, this Red blend may be. The Red blend on Calabria’s website uses unspecified grapes and is sourced from various places in South Eastern Australia, while this wine is from Barossa valley.
Barossa Valley may be the premier growing region in Australia; it is the home to many high-priced acclaimed wines. The temperature can get hot during the day, but Barossa is close enough to the ocean to cool off and night and in the morning. The difference in temps from day to night gives the grapes the conditions they need to thrive.
The Kings Of Prohibition Cabernet Shiraz Blend is a non-vintage wine. They do not explain why on their website, but I would guess that the Cabernet Sauvignon is from one vintage and the Shiraz from another. The bottle is highly ornamented and of a distinctive shape.
It is rounder and thicker than a typical wine bottle with squared shoulders and a short, thin neck. I imagine the Kings Of Prohibition Cabernet Shiraz Blend bottle is meant to evoke vintage bottles from the prohibition era, and it is different. This is also the Al Capone edition. I live close to the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre site, and there is a neighborhood bar a few blocks away that never closed during Prohibition. It was probably one of Bugsy Moran’s joints.
That history and the shape of the bottle is what caught my eye. What any Chicago gangster stuff has to do with Australian wine, I do not know.
The Kings Of Prohibition Cabernet Shiraz Blend was fermented in stainless steel vats with oak planks of staves added in. This gives the wine some oak influence without the expense of oak barrels. A new oak barrel can cost $1,000, and value-priced wines do not always have room in their budget for that expense. Oak staves give the wine the proper flavoring at a reduced cost.
The wine is then aged in stainless steel vats and old oak barrels. An old oak barrel is a barrel that has been used to age wine so often it can no longer impart oak influence into the wine. A stainless steel vat does not allow any air transfer into the wine, but an oak barrel will let a minuscule amount of air to enter. It may seem like a minor detail, but wine in stainless steel will be slightly different from a wine aged in an oak barrel. The alcohol content is 14%.
Kings Of Prohibition Cabernet Shiraz Blend Tasting Notes
The color is a bright and shiny black cherry red. The nose is a mix of blackberry and raspberry, along with black pepper, spice, chocolate mint candy, and vanilla. The Kings Of Prohibition Cabernet Shiraz Blend is a soft and smooth wine with a nice flavor mix. It is not complex, but it is tasty.
It tastes like blackberry, black pepper, licorice, spice, and plum. The mid-palate adds milk chocolate, raspberry, raisin, and tart cherry. The tannins are sweet, and the acidity is well-balanced. The Kings Of Prohibition Cabernet Shiraz Blend is not complex or layered, but it is pleasing.
The Summary
- The Kings Of Prohibition Cabernet Shiraz Blend is well-priced and highly enjoyable.
- The odd shape of the bottle makes it harder to handle and pour the wine than a typical wine bottle. All the weight is centered in the lower half. But it is an interesting shape, and the label design is very well done.
