December 14, 2011 - Amazing how well this wine held up! Just spectacular. Great balance, wonderful bouquet and fruit forward, but not overpowering. A great example of a wine that just matured over time and is at it's peak.
March 20, 2008 - Color is deep red violet. Nose is pretty volatile, edging from black fruits more towards ripe raspberries, pepper, and meat. The palate follows, with tart acidity and resolved tannins. Good, but probably not improving at this point, particularly at 15.1% alcohol. Just a touch of heat on the finish. Drink up.
June 6, 2007 - Starts with a nose of beef blood, smoky blackcurrant, hot rocks, a touch of grapefruit. The palate shows bright flavors of cherry, cranberry, salty black olive, grilled meat and citrus. The finish is rather tart and citrusy with a touch of rubbery reduction. After a couple of hours the nose picks up some sappy cherry, a dusty face powder note and dried herb. The finish smooths and adds an interesting herbal edge. This wine has improved since release but I am not a big fan of its bloody/citrus/reductive profile.
March 31, 2007 - OC Virtual Rosella's Syrah Tasting (OC and Virtual For Parker BB): Tasted from magnum. Ryan called the nose on this dead on--'balsamic'. Also some caramel, faint pepper and a plummy core with what I perceived as a little sweet, too. Not bad but not my favorite of the night.
November 17, 2006 - Singing and layered nose of red grapefuit, meat, black fruits and smoke. The palate has a velvety mouthfeel. Medium to full bodied on entry. Seamless across the midpalate with fine tannin and fresh underlying acidity. Some white pepper on the back palate. Excellent fruit, complexity and great lift. Long smoky finish. Drinking at what must be its prime.
October 6, 2006 - A big nose of bloody steak, dark berry, grapefruit and a little white pepper. Dark fruit and pepper coat the mouth. Big and fat in the mouth but at the same time fresh and vibrant. Good length on the peppery finish. Time in the decanter really brought the fruit to the fore.
September 28, 2006 - This was the worst bottle of Novy wine I can every remember consuming. It had the white pepper characteristic typical of the Rosella's syrah but didn't have the fruit I can remember in the past. Perhaps a bad bottle?
May 10, 2006 - Another great performance that echoes my last tasting from a few months ago, except add loads of smoky charcoal on the nose tonight!
May 6, 2006 - This wine is continuing to drink beautifully. On day 1 there is wonderfully rich blackberry/raspberry fruit with ruby red grapefruit acidity that leads to a very long finish. On day 2 the acidity is showing a more general citrus element without the strong grapefruit notes but the blackberry/raspberry profile is still rich and very long. Simply a fantastic syrah and my favorite Rosella's to date. I do not see this improving from here so I highly recommend drinking this over the next 6-12 months.
March 17, 2006 - Still very dark but maybe starting to show a little browning at the edges. Also threw some sediment. Would say this is textbook Rosella's. The aromatics are hard to miss: big white pepper, game and funk. The bouquet is pretty enormous, even at this stage. The palate: soft with that terroir driven grapefruit acidity that is all Rosella’s, along with espresso. The acidity of this wine keeps it alive and perhaps this goes another couple of years. In line with the Page-Nord for maybe longest lived Novy? My last 750 of this wine with one mag of it left--perfect situation!