Today we check out a 2010 Australian shiraz that is $13 at Total Wine, $12-$15 most other places.
Have you ever shopped for speakers? Some of them have a “wow” or “hell yeah!” factor that grabs you in the store. But later, you realize the “wow” is just hyped-up treble or bass, and they become unacceptable over time.
That’s similar to Layer Cake shiraz for me. The first sniff is a wow — blueberry shortcake — and the first taste is another — like red wine combined with one of those jelly bar desserts from middle school. But after a few sips, there comes a realization: uh-oh, this wine is just too sweet.
Compared with the cheaper and fairly delicious Jacob’s Creek 2008 reserve shiraz (only $10), Layer Cake loses. Restaurants may want to consider Layer Cake, because with this name, everybody is going to want to try it. But for us home gamers, this shiraz is:
Not recommended.
P.S. For a very different view, and a potential primer on everything that is wrong with wine reviews in America, try this, which states that Layer Cake tastes like “melted” licorice, “crushed” black currants, and also has “intense dry extract” (WTF?). Then there’s the color: “Layer Cake Shiraz is a tremendously dense blackish-red color with a deep opaque purplish core going out into a fine violet-fuchsia rim definition with super high painted viscosity.”
Wineguider wine reviews 
So glad you reviewed this – always enjoy your insights and your down-to-earth style. I know, it’s hard work, but someone’s got to do it, right?
Right! Haha. I also tried Layer Cake primitivo at a bar. I liked it, and it wasn’t sweet. Strangely, the restaurant told me it was coming off the menu because it wasn’t selling. Maybe, people assumed they would get something sweet, and it didn’t work for them. And those wanting something dry steered away b/c of the name? Who knows. But it was pretty good.