8 Great California Syrah, 1 Killer White and 1 Taylor Port in NYC

Tonight was a lovely evening of good company and good wine. California syrah was the theme and there was not a laggard in the bunch! A terrific showing. Despite all these wine being all cali syrahs and all relatively young, each was able to establish its own identity. This was an evening full of great wine including Robert's Au Bon Climat Hildegard to start and Jay's Taylor Port to close. For those of you that know me, how good would a white have to be for me to even remember to mention it in the notes? Well, this was that good! On to the notes...

• 1999 Au Bon Climat Hildegard

  USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Maria Valley

  Wow. I don't even like white wine and this was a "wow" wine. This was 55% Pinot Gris, 40% PB and 4% Alagate. It had a medium length finish and really lovely aromatics. Someone described it as esoteric and uniqure. This left an impression on me, for sure. Really a repeat purchase.

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• 1999 Shafer Relentless

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Its just hard to be first - there is no where to go but downhill. It started off being well-liked by the table but then others came along and knocked it out of position. I didn't prefer this, I found something medicinal in the midpalate. Many others liked this more than I, so I'll let them comment. This got one vote for WOTN.

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• 2002 Behrens & Hitchcock Chien Lunatique

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Big and sweet and tastes like it could have aussie parents? Yup, I loved it. I got some acetone/alcohol on the nose of this and others described it as "over the top" but this was a young, enjoyable wine. It was fun. I'd be curious to taste it in a few years.

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• 2003 DuMOL Syrah Eddie's Patch

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley

  I have a favorable note on this bottle from mid-2006, but that didn't hold true for me tonight. It was a beautiful translucent, burgundy color (one of the few that wasn't dark, dark, plum) with a medium to long finish, but not as good as the company on the table despite one vote for WOTN.

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• 2003 Colgin Syrah IX Estate

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  I got lots of oak and acetone on this at first, but after that blew away, this was well-enjoyed by the majority. I'll let them post. It had three votes for WOTN.

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• 2004 Jonata Winery La Sangre de Jonata

  USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley

  The nose on this was lovely after a few minutes in the glass - it picked up a number of floral notes. There was some heat in the beginning though. I'd like to have this in a few years. I'm very interested in the vineyard and am looking forward to the next Jonata that I have.

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• 2005 Kongsgaard Syrah Hudson Vineyard

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  This Kongsgaard, and Robert, deserved the WOTN vote that it won. (Robert also brought the awesome white wine.) This was fantastic. This was California classic syrah but with some meat and mineral notes. It was truly well-balanced. You never would guess that this was so young. I didn't, but a number got pepper here as well. Fantastic. Would someone please confirm if this was the regular or Hudson bottling? Thanks.

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• 2005 Alban Vineyards Syrah Reva Alban Estate Vineyard

  USA, California, Central Coast, Edna Valley

  This changed over the evening for me. Many folks loved this, our runner up WOTN, in fact. The nose on this, for lack of a better word, was really pretty. I got a hint of beautiful freshly cut grass and even cinnamon at some point. Others should pile on here, my notes got sparse by this point.

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• 2005 Radio-Coteau Syrah Las Colinas

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

  If the Shafer suffered for being first, the RC suffered for being last. We'd had so many fantastic wines, I'm not sure this got our full attention. For the price, I think this one was a pleasure.

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• 1995 Taylor (Fladgate) Porto Vintage Quinta de Vargellas

  Portugal, Douro, Porto

  Many thanks to Jay for bringing us something to enjoy for dessert. I have very little experience with ports, so I'll allow others to post. This was great with our chocolate desserts.

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This was a lovely evening. Walker's is a simple restaurant that has twice given us a back table all to ourselves. There is no wine service, per se, but they were very accomodating in giving us an additional table to so we could spread out with our glasses, bottles, etc. Further, we were able to linger there with no pressure at all to pick up the pace. $40 all in, including corkage and a $20 tip. Nice place for a tasting.