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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 92.4 pts. and median of 92 pts. in 23 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by texaswinelover on 5/10/2021: My first time to open this wine since release. WOW WOW WOW! I was skeptical of the 98 pts when it was released but this wine is BANGING! 14.3% etoh, deep rich concentrated dark fruit. Typical Cali Syrah notes in spades. Balanced, acidity to spare, wonderful minerality. Clean long finish. Wish I’d opened on a weekend so I could enjoy more thoroughly. Top flight Syrah. Kudos to Joe Donelan. (1089 views) | | | Tasted by jshufelt on 2/9/2021 & rated 92 points: Decanted for an hour before service. In the glass, dark red at the rim, fading quickly to black at the core. On the nose, blackberries, with no sign of aging - aromatically, this could be a barrel sample. On the palate, blackberry liqueur, plums, saline notes, and a faint hint of camphor, with mild tannins on a long fruit-driven finish. This seems to be resolving nicely. (1041 views) | | | Tasted by brettay on 1/1/2021 & rated 93 points: Classic dark brooding Syrah. Roasted meats, dark cherry and blackberry fruit, minerals and graphite. Dark and rich but with an impeccable balance between the fruit and savory elements, (1108 views) | | | Tasted by tplskylrk on 6/22/2019: P&P. Cold. Cant even describe this nose. Wow....terrior in a glass. So beautiful, delicate, masculine. So much blue fruit, mixed wet stones, rough herbs, earth, blood. Yum. Just want to smell this. The palate is wild. This is in a perfect place, so balanced, so delicious, euthreral. (1463 views) | | | Tasted by Minnesota on 10/29/2018 & rated 94 points: Again screwed up the decant (opened as treat following hours of buckthorn eradication work). Opened up beautifully as night went on. Absolutely will decant next bottle. (1434 views) | | | Tasted by jshufelt on 5/4/2018 & rated 89 points: Pop and pour. In the glass, medium-dark red at the rim, fading quickly to black at the core. On the nose, plum and blackberries. On the palate, blackberry liqueur with a bit of saline, and moderately assertive tannins on the finish. This could be a dumb phase, but based on my notes from 3+ years ago, I'm not convinced... (854 views) | | | Tasted by tplskylrk on 4/21/2018: 5 years since last one. Dark in the glass. Dark sweet berries, wet rocks on the nose. Delicious. This is just perfect. Not big. No pepper. Just sweet deliciousness. Balanced, juicy, man, the balance is perfect, 10 years and this is so yummy. W the mineral it needs food. But won’t over power. This prob is in Phase 2 or 3. Another 10 years of life. (922 views) | | | Tasted by Minnesota on 3/28/2016 & rated 92 points: Did not decant to the wine's detriment, opened to reveal its fruit over time. Next bottle will try 4-5 decant. (1697 views) | | | Tasted by johnwine on 5/29/2015 & rated 93 points: What a beautiful Sonoma Syrah filled with flavors of chocolate covered cherries, coffee, and berries with a hint of leather on the nose. (1956 views) | | | Tasted by bambam on 2/15/2015 & rated 93 points: On the nose faint early season blueberries when cold. As it warmed, more oak found its way in. Just outstanding balance in the mouth. Blueberry, mushroom, and carrot parfait. The finish is bit clipped. Paired well with a nice filet mignon. (1935 views) | | | Tasted by jshufelt on 10/10/2014 & rated 92 points: Decanted for 30 mins before service. In the glass, medium-dark red at the rim, fading quickly to black at the core. On the nose, a mixture of port and crushed blackberries. On the palate, dense and rich fruit, combined with minerality and assertive tannins on the finish. I think we'll need a few years to get a better read on where this is headed. (1864 views) | | | Tasted by tplskylrk on 12/28/2013: 1.5 Day II. The nose on this is beautiful. Wet rocks, violets, delicate flowers. Full rich flavors, again the minerality is huge. Some nice tannins balance the huge blue fruit. Nutty, this is very much coming together. Not overdone, nothing but a beautiful vineyard & beautiful wine making (2453 views) | | | Tasted by tplskylrk on 10/21/2013: Delicious. Mineral, sweet, herby, yum. (1681 views) | | | Tasted by johnwine on 4/26/2013 & rated 93 points: Inky,syrupy,voluptuous Syrah! (1616 views) | | | Tasted by Nanda on 3/11/2011 & rated 94 points: Amazing and complex aromas literally leap from the glass. Very northern Rhone like on the nose with smoked meat, black fruit, pepper and savory notes. Palate is full bodied with medium-rich fruit and juicy acidity. Already drinking well and showing complexity. Terrific Syrah! (2755 views) | | | Tasted by russdan60 on 2/28/2011 & rated 92 points: Totally agree with Nutty08's notes of 1/14/11. Ditto his review in total. (2547 views) | | | Tasted by Nutty08 on 1/14/2011 & rated 92 points: San Antonio Wine Geeks - Chardonnay night (mostly) (The Monterey): Decanted on arrival and consumed over the next few hrs. Liquor-like nose, with candied fruit, fragrant and floral with a hint of smoke. Highly polished palate, with little detectable tannin or heat, with densely concentrated fruit. Chocolate and espresso on the lengthy finish. I had trouble getting into this, maybe a little overdone? Or just way too young. Others thought this would come together in time. 92+ for now. (2985 views) |
| Donelan Producer websiteSyrah Varietal article (Wikipedia) | (Wines Northwest)
Note that some producers in the Northern Rhone distinguish between simply Syrah and "Serine", the latter described as ‘an ancient clone of Syrah, the berries of which are more oval-shaped and less deeply pigmented than Syrah’ by producer Tardieu-Laurent. USAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.California2021 vintage: "Unlike almost all other areas of the state, the Russian River Valley had higher than normal crops in 2021, which has made for a wine of greater generosity and fruit forwardness than some of its stablemates." - Morgan Twain-Peterson Sonoma CountyMendocino CountySonoma Coast * Sonoma Coast AVA (Wikipedia)
* Sonoma Coast AVA (Wine Institue) |
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