syrah smackdown
Barrington IL, Wally's house
Tasted April 24, 2009 by KeithAkers with 832 views
Introduction
So, it came to pass that there would be a syrah smackdown to go along with the annual pinot smackdown. Twelve contestants stepped into wally's house for yet another smackdown and it would test our palates and wills
Flight 1 - Introductory Blind comparison (2 notes)
Jim Mack brought both of these and put them in different bottles for us to compare againnst each other. I have to say, I was thoroughly impressed with the Jemrose grenache, and while I may have scored it 1 pt less, I would rather drink it then the Sine Qua Non as it was more classic grenache and extremely well balanced
taste: great medium weight on the palate with rich tones of anise, black berries, black cherries, spices and black fruits
overall: A massive wine. Extremely big on fruit while still holding some good balance to keep the massive fruit in check. Very rich and big, this certainly packed a wallop while holding back a bit, definitely a heavyweight boxer of a grenache
taste: great medium feel with polished tones of dark spices, red fruits, red cherries, red and black licorice and some bits of dark berry tones. Nice tannins support this well
overall: this was blind, and a excellent grenache that really made me take notice. Nowhere close to over extracted while possesing really good fruit and great aromatics. this was served right next to an 04 into the dark, and this held up very well
Flight 2 - Starter Whites (2 notes)
There was a kutch rose that I didn't really get good notes on along with these
taste: good light feel that is lacking on the mid palate with tones of gun flint, sea shells, and lemon peels with some bits of white fruits. The acidity is well in check right now. While it is very intriguing on the nose, it lacks a bit on the palate as it just doesn't carry through the depth that was present on the nose
overall: an interesting and mature chablis. Really nice on the nose, but lacks a bit on the palate, of course this was a pop n pour, so there may have been some added depth with more air, but I didn't get a chance to revisit this
taste: real good medium+ acidity gives this good backing with some nice residual sugar poking through along with well balanced tones of peaches, white blossoms, green apples, white fruits and some slight hints of cheeses
overall: a real classy riesling. Great feel and length on the palate showing off its pedigree with nice acidity and residual sugar to help it along. May need a bit more time, but is certainly a real fun riesling right now
Flight 3 - Wines A-D (4 notes)
taste: good weight with a real nice medium/full feel of dark red fruits, dark spices, meaty tones, and dark red cherries. Nice tannins back it up with good depth
overall: an excellent wine. Showed off a nice dark fruit profile that carried through on the palate that made it very enjoyable and sumptuous
taste: massive tannins, and also massive depth with a real smooth medium/full feel of black pepper, tobacco, leather, black cherries and some bits of spices. Very big tannins give away its youth on the palate, but a lot to like already
overall: a wine that I would love to have in my collection. Extremely young, but also extremely expressive, this was scratching me where I itched and the only dissapointment was that this was a big blind tasting and I couldn't spend more time with this wine
taste: great big and full feel with rather sneaky tannins. Excellent tones of black cherries, ripe berries, black berries and some dark chocolate balances out well together
overall: I confused this one for a new world wine blind. Big and rich while not being over the top, this was very interesting and would be interesting to revisit in a few years as the tannins were fairly deceptive
taste: big full bodied feel that is packed with deep tones of black fruits, mint, black berries, dark red cherries and eucalyptus. Nice silky tannins to back it up and add a bit of backbone to the wine
overall: a real stellar wine. This won WOTN and was my personal WOTN. Big, but balanced, this showed off that when they do it right down under, they make some tremendous wines that are worthy of their own place
Flight 4 - Wines E-H (4 notes)
taste: lovely and balanced with rich and deep tones of mineral rich earth, smoke, charcol, dark red cherries and some bits of spice. Good tannins that are more there for support with a real nice medium/full feel
overall: when this was blind, I thought it was an old world wine. Great balance and richness to it that encompasses all that I enjoy from syrah. My first crack at a cayuse, and I really look forward to trying another one
taste: real nice and rich medium/full feel with good tones of black fruits, red cherries and red currants. Nice depth on the flavors and picking up the slack where the complexity may taper off
overall: Very enjoyable with good balance and nice fruit. Comes across as fully ready as the tannins aren't in the forefront and the flavors seem to have hit a good place
taste: lacking a bit of depth on the palate that the nose had. Good medium feel of dark red cherries, berries, and dark red fruits
overall: A wine that really teases you. Definitely showed some age as there was some bricking and browning at the rim with lighter color. This may have been slightly better a year or two ago, but is certainly an excellent syrah right now that is worth drinking
taste: good tones of dark red fruits, black cherries along with bits of pine tones. decent depth, but comes across as a bit simple with little complexity
overall: I found this odd and disjointed. It had a good medium/full feel, but at the same time I found this a bit hollow. I didn't find the fruit fully cohesive at this stage and am not sure how to gauge how this will age
Flight 5 - Wines I-L (4 notes)
taste: great depth strikes you right off the bat with a good rich full feel to it. Well placed tones of pepper, dark red cherries, blackberries and black currants all work well together with good supporting tannins that are certainly present, but not overbearing
overall: a beautiful wine right now that has the ability to get better with a few more years. Not hedonistic and certainly not a fruit bomb, it has a great purity of fruit with great depth that makes this wine certainly stand out
taste: very big tannins with a real big and full feel with rich tones of black licorice, black cherries, dark berries and bits of red cherries. Very rich, but not full throttle
overall: really good feel and balance with this wine. Has a lot going for it, but this seemed a bit hollow on the mid palate and lacking a bit on the finish. A lot of promise with the wine, maybe it needed a decant or a bit more aging
taste: nice medium tannins with a medium/full feel. Jammy flavors that lack a bit of depth of red fruits, red licorice and red cherries
overall: there were others that liked this a lot more then I did when the scores were revealed. I found this to be a very good wine, but it came across to me more as a $10-15 aussie shiraz in style and feel and it lacked some depth for my taste
taste: not sure what happened on the palate here. Its completely dominated by oak and has some muted red fruits. A jekyll/hyde sort of thing happening and is very dissapointing
overall: The oak domination on the palate killed for me what was a really good wine. Not sure what happened as there wasn't anywhere near as much oak on the nose. I'd like to try this again to see what the deal was
Flight 6 - Wines M-P (4 notes)
taste: Excellent medium/full feel with really good balanced flavors of red fruits, red cherries, cassis, black cherries and some bits of camphor and black licorice. While the flavors are really good, they seem to be lacking a bit of teh depth and expression that they possesed on the nose
overall: I made sure to decant this for 5 hours or so and then bottle aired it for two hours after putting it back in the bottle. Maybe it needed more air or some more time sideways. Wally had some of this over the next two nights and he told me that it showed a lot better, c'est la vie
taste: excellent medium/full feel with well balanced and cool tones of dark red cherries, dark berries, black currants, and some really nice bits of red fruits
overall: a real attractive and cool syrah. Not neccessarily going to win that many blind contests, but a very enjoyable syrah that I would love on its own to let it do its thing and spend time with it
taste: very pretty and elegant medium/full feel with good tannins providing silky tones of black fruits, floral bits, charcol, black pepper, and some hints of brett. Nowhere near as much brett on the palate as there was on the nose
overall: a very controversial wine. Someone said that they thought it was corked, and those that were down at that end of the table gave this wine some bad scores while those that were at my end of the table generally enjoyed the wine a lot.
taste: extremely tannic and full bodied. Lots of oak with some black cherries, but is a bit hollow on the mid palate which is also bothersome
overall: this was a shock when it was revealed. This just didn't work for me and the oak just masked any possible flavors, which was very dissapointing. I don't know if this had been decanted or not, but it probably could've used more decanting if it was, and if it wasn't, it certainly could've used it
Flight 7 - Wines Q-S (3 notes)
taste: deft balance and very deep with beautiful tones that just scream northern rhone. Great tones of charcol, some smoke tones, black and white pepper, black cherries, and leather
overall: a barely born puppy that has top quality written all over it. While sometimes La Chapelle can dissapoint, I don't think that there's any worry with that here as this wine will reward those that are patient with it.
taste: great medium feel with smooth tones of dark spices, peppercorns, black fruits and black cherries. Nice tannins to provide support
overall: this came across as being old world. To me I thought it may be the CdP ringer in the lineup as it came across that way a bit
taste: comes across as slightly tired on the palate with nice tones of red fruits, smoke, olives, cherries and various spice. While it seems a bit tired, the balance and depth is certainly there
overall: a shocker when revealed. Who knows the provenance of the bottle as when this was revealed, it was rather surprising for a 90 CdP to come across like this. Another controversial wine as some people utterly hated it while some(like me) enjoyed it
Flight 8 - Ending wines (2 notes)
taste: ridiculously tannic, but with a real sexy medium/full feel with deep tones of mineral rich earth, roasted meats, black cherries, charcol and some smoke tones. The tannins are very strong as would be expected, but it still showed off some of what should become an absolutely stunning wine
overall: I'd love to taste this after a day on decanting as I have no doubt that it show very stunning for such a young chave. Very deep and pure that just begged for more time than it deserved at the end of a long night. just giving a tease of a peak of what's to come
taste: great medium feel with deep tones of apricots, green apples, necartines, bits of tree fruits and a nice mineral under current. good acidity that works well as it doesn't dominate but is noticeable at teh same time
overall: really starting to drink. Doesn't fully come across as mature, but certainly in a drinking range. Its always fun to drink ZHs and this was no different
Closing
The quality of the wine overall was higher then it was at the pinot smackdown. There were also some wide ranges of scores, obviously indicating that some people's palates were awful and too willing to be open to suggestion of others. At the end of the night, there were a lot of bottles drunk and lots of fun was had, along with a Yak palate being awarded to the bringer of the worst wine. Onto next year and hopefully then wally won't win