Sideshow Spicy Shiraz

So the honest starting point is that our research has not turned up a confirmed account from the producer, so the grape and the price carry it. The grape is Syrah, the same red that many labels call Shiraz, and which of the two names a maker prints can hint at the style intended. Guides that describe it reach for dark berry, plum and black pepper, with a savory edge, a medium to full body and firm structure; cooler growing conditions tend to keep the pepper and the freshness, warmer sites the riper fruit and the weight. The average is 4 out of five, from 6 ratings, a little under 4.71, the median rating among the wines we cover.

Value is where it makes its case. Across the reds we cover, almost none sell for less, and our September 2026 checks found it as low as $6.99.

The closest thing to a producer account here runs through Corks & Cheers, the marketing site for WX, the portfolio company behind the Side Show label; we found no standalone Sideshow producer website. That page names Johnson Scutt as winemaker, describing him as New Zealand born, holding a Wine Science degree, having made wine in more than a dozen countries, and joining WX in 2004 as its sourcing director for the Southern Hemisphere. The page markets this bottle as ‘The Charmer,’ and its own tasting note reads: ‘tantalizing aromas of blackberries and plum. Fresh, ripe raspberry and strawberry notes topped with a touch of black licorice charm the palate.’ It marks the wine’s body toward the fuller end of its own scale and its sweetness toward the dry end. A separate community ratings site, Vivino, lists this wine at 3.5 out of 5 and puts the Side Show brand’s six wines together at that same 3.5 average, drawn from roughly 2,600 combined ratings.

Our call: worth a look for the price alone; its low end sits among the least expensive reds we track, and Corks & Cheers’ brand page now puts a named winemaker, Johnson Scutt, and a house style behind the Side Show name. Pass if the shopper average is what decides for you; it sits below the median of the wines we cover, and what we know of the winemaking comes from an importer’s portfolio page rather than a standalone Sideshow producer site.

The Grocery Store Wine Desk · written Sep 16, 2026 from our research file for this wine. Numbers reflect our latest checks.