Wineflock - Best of American Syrah
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Tasted October 24, 2008 by winefool with 1,390 views
Introduction
Rich and I had talked a while back about putting together a very high end California syrah tasting with some of the old and new stars. He and I decided to pull together all the wines ourselves, and then Ken suggested that he had a couple of Washington examples he wanted to test too, so we expanded the scope to be American Syrah and Ken contributed a couple of bottles.
Overall the lineup showed exceptionally well, as expected, and it was difficult to type in notes that said things like 'group #9' for wines that are truly exceptional - alas the realities of a comparative tasting! Of course all the wines were served blind, and those in obvious bottles were disguised. We also included a couple of ringers - a great Rhone that fell flat and of course an aussie (that we would all mostly deride at this point) that took WOTN honors above the class of American syrah - ouch!
Started with a mag of champagne that was lovely and went from there. At the end, Ken threw in a couple more examples that didn't 'make the cut' just for fun. By then, my note taking capacity was greatly diminished. As usual, scores are only meaningful for me or to suggest which wines I liked relative to one another, blah blah blah...
Flight 1 (12 notes)
Red
2002 Alban Vineyards Syrah Reva Alban Estate Vineyard
USA, California, Central Coast, Edna Valley
Group #8, My #10 - Full opaque pruple/red color. Lovely forward nose of lilac, olive, black fruit and coffee/asphalt - nice. Big mouthful of black fruit and asphalt with a long tannic finish. This wine is certainly rounding out since I last tasted it and it did not shine as much as I had hoped, but it's still very nice. 93-94 pts.
Red
1995 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Mouline
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
Group #12, My #12 - A definitive last place, I'm still not sure why this showed so poorly - imperfect bottle (though there were no noticeable flaws) or simply the company?? Full deep red color with a hint of lightening. Forward nose of briar red fruit - dustry with just a hint of green but also an offputting cedar/plywood note. Woody black fruit on the plalate, a bit drying, with an olive note. Seemed to improve a bit with time in glass but just seemed a bit odd and disjointed.
Red
2005 Linne Calodo Nemesis
USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
Group #11, My #3 - Full red/purple color. Mmmn, lovely spicy red/black currant nose with a briar note and a hint of pepper. Lovely balanced rich sweet black and red currant fruit with pepper note and a long structured finish. I think the group might have rated this one a bit low due to a focus on balance over concentration compared to the rest. 94-95 pts.
Red
2006 Carlisle Syrah Papa's Block
USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
Group #9, My #8 - Full opaque deep purple color. Wow, lovely floral violet black cassis nose. Nice big bold black fruit with a lon gcoffee asphalt finish - puckering. Young.
Red
2005 Jonata Winery La Sangre de Jonata
USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley
Group #4, My #9 - Full deep opaque black/red color. Medium full bright cherry stone nose with a hint of heat. Nice big ripe black fruit - serious and deep, but still tight. 94- pts.
Red
2003 Pax Syrah Castelli-Knight Ranch
USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
Group #3, My #2 - Full deep opaque red/black color. Mmmmn, lovely floral big black fruit nose with GREAT pepper notes. Lovely bright balanced juicy black fruit with good spice and pepper on the palate. Wonderful as always with pefect balance.
Red
2005 K Vintners Syrah Old Bones
USA, Washington
Group #10, My #11 - Full deep opaque black/red color. Big forward stewy black fruit with a hint of heat and some brown sugar notes. Dusty black fruit with a tannic finish. I think Dr. Jay was way off with his 99 pts on this one ...
Red
2005 Saxum Bone Rock James Berry Vineyard
USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
Group #5, My #7 - Full deep red/black color. Big bowl of black fruit and cassis with a hint of heat on the lifted nose. Nice big blcak fruit with good structure and a long finish. Decent acidity and nice balance - still young.
Red
1997 Ojai Syrah Cuvée Henry Daniel
USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley
Group #2, My #6 - Full red color. Medium full nose of red fruit cough drop with a hint of coffee. Nice red and black fruit on the palate with easy balance and good breed. Nice and complex.
Red
2005 Glaetzer Shiraz Amon-Ra Barossa Valley
Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley
Group #1, My #5 - Full deep opaque black/red color. Lovely medium full red fruit and floral nose - nice. Really nice interesteing sweet/tart black fruit and cassis on the palate with good lifted acidity. 94-95pts.
Red
2004 Alban Vineyards Syrah Seymour's Vineyard
USA, California, Central Coast, Edna Valley
Group #6, My #4 - Full deep opaque black color. Forward bright black fruit with a hint of violet and a touch of heat. Mmmn, interesting complex black cassis fruit with coffee and tar notes. Hints of sweetness in the black fruit with chocolate undertones. Very nice.
Red
2005 Sine Qua Non Syrah Atlantis Fe2O3~1a, b & c
USA, California, Central Coast
Group #7, My #1 - My second time tasting this in the past three weeks and it was just spactacular both times. Not sure how this got lost by the crowd... Full deep opaque black/red color. Mmmmn, absolutely stunning blcak fruit violet pepper and pefume on the beguiling nose. Spactacular black fruit spice and pepper on the palate, like a great Cote Rotie on steroids, but with perfect balance. 97+ pts.
Flight 2 (2 notes)
Red
2004 Sine Qua Non Syrah Poker Face
USA, California, Central Coast
Another strong showing for this wine as well, with similar notes. Nice black and red fruit with plenty of stuffing and richness.
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