Boom Boom On A Friday Night…

I regret posting so late, but it was a tough Friday night commute in Los Angeles, and I thougth it best to pull the car over and wait for traffic to die down.  As it turns out, I pulled over right in front of Vertical Wine Bistro in Pasadena.  Go figure.  So I climbed the stairs and took a seat.

Vertical is known for serving carefully selected flights of three wines each, but I thought I better stick to just a glass; I was driving after all.  I overheard someone behind the wine bar say, “you need a boom boom?” (I wasn’t sure if I had heard correctly.  A good friend of mine uses the term ‘boom-boom’ as a audio cue for his poodles, when he’s ready to take them outside for a bathroom break, as in “…are you ready to go boom-boom?”)

Upon examining the wine list, I figured out what was going on.  They were speaking about  Boom Boom Syrah from K Vitners/Charles Smith wines in Washington.  With a name like Boom Boom, I had to give it a try.

In my experience, syrahs tend to have a peppery quality which I don’t love; I find the same thing with granaches.  The Boom Boom however did not display the pepper at all.  Here are my thoughts:

Dark purple color with a ‘booming’ full palate of blueberry and blackberry with a hint of vanilla; it reminded me of a petite sirah.  Nice, smooth tannins.  It was delicious.

The staff convinced me that I should have an order of fritters to go with.  Fantastic.  If you ever find yourself in Pasadena due to traffic or otherwise, make it a point to stop in and check out Vertical.

Oh by the way, I ordered a second glass.  Damn traffic.