Napa Wine Club Tasting #2

We tasted 3 flights of wine, which were split up by vintage. Each flight consisted of 4 Syrah's. One each from California, Washington, France, and Australia. All the wines were tasted blind and we each were challenged to identify where each Syrah was from and pick the favority wine of the flight.

• 2009 Tardieu-Laurent Hermitage 91 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  Funky nose, sweet red fruit, not that memorable.

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• 2009 Reynvaan Family Vineyards Syrah The Unnamed 92 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley

  Cool climate, meat nose, herbs and very lifted aromatics. Almost French like palate with great dark fruits.

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• 2009 John Duval Wines Shiraz Entity 92 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley

  Nose of tar, mint, and menthol. Dark fruits popping up as well. Very cool note on the palate with great richness and balance.

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• 2009 Alban Vineyards Syrah Patrina Alban Estate Vineyard 93 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Edna Valley

  Wine of the flight for me. Deep dark brooding nose. Peach notes, oddly enough. Rich powerful Alban palate with explosive fruit and silky yet young tannins. Rich but balanced. A controversial wine amongst the group with some loving and others hating. I was able to identify it blind as Alban as so few wines have that type of nose.

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• NV Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Cuvée de Réserve 92 Points

  France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

  This was opened as a palate cleanser between flights 1 and 2 of a Syrah tasting. On opening all apples, baked peaches, and melon. After a bit of time in the glass the bread and yeast notes come through and it develops more weight on the palate. Such a great producer.

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• 2008 K Vintners Syrah The Deal Sundance Vineyard 92 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Wahluke Slope

  For many the wine of the tasting. I was only able to initally get a sour cream note on the nose which really detracted from the enjoyment. Once I was able to move past that really got some lovely leather, dark fruit, and tar. Smooth and rich on the palate with nice balance and a lingering finish. Slight tannins.

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• 2008 Lillian Winery Syrah 94 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County

  Wine of the flight for me. Deep dark nose with great white pepper popping up. Mistook this for a SQN when tasted blind. Deep rich black fruit on the palate and still very primary at this point. Long lingering finish.

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• 2008 Penfolds Shiraz RWT 93 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley

  All mint and menthol on the nose. Immediately identifiable as an Aussie wine. Very well made and almost refreshing to drink at this stage. Lovely red fruit on the palate with the American oak present on the palate and finish with vanilla and some dill.

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• 2008 Tardieu-Laurent Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes 90 Points

  France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

  Very easy to identify as the only wine in the flight with blending. Almost light bodied when tasted in the flight with the other large Syrah based wines. The Grenache in the wine really pokes out with nice burst of red fruit and some chocolate flavors. A bit outclassed.

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• 2005 Pax Syrah The Emerald Pool Alder Springs Vineyard 94 Points

  USA, California, North Coast, Mendocino County

  Graphite, meat, minerality nose with fruit still present. The secondary nuances are really starting to shine through. Soft integrated tannins and clearly cool climate in nature. One of the tasters (Pahlmeyer's winemaker) was able to ID the producer and the wine itself! Great wine and really starting into a great drinking window with a serious decant.

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• 2005 M. Chapoutier Côte-Rôtie La Mordorée 89 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  This was rated near the bottom of the tasting. Very underwhelming and quite frankly suprised when the bag came off. The nose was nice with leather, tar and some funk. The mid palate was totally lacking without any stuffing. Almost watered down with a very clipped finish.

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• 2005 Owen Roe Syrah Ex Umbris 90 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley

  Very funky nose. Dark fruit and at this stage it became very hard to distinguish the WA Syrahs. Of all the regions they were the most terrior driven. Really classy stuff and for the price this was a great QPR.

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• 2005 Kaesler Shiraz The Bogan 94 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley

  Smooth minerality nose, licorice. Dark berry BURST on the palate really strutting its stuff. Lovely balance and long finish. This will go for quite some time.

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Great tasting with lots of discussion and a few suprises.