Community Tasting Notes 7

• ebert Likes this wine: 92 points

  March 18, 2013 - Great full, well-balanced, syrah with strong dark fruits

  Comment

• grafstrb wrote: 86 points

  January 12, 2011 - – popped and poured –
  – tasted non-blind on Days 1 and 3 –
  
  NOSE: initially, ball-point pen ink; dried herbs; oak; hint of sourness like a Flanders Red ale – sweet; hint of minerality. A couple hours after opening, the Nose became oakier – this development was more pronounced on Day 3, at which time it also had a strong alcohol scent.
  
  BODY: lots of medium-grained particulate matter present; black-magenta color of great depth; medium-full to full bodied.
  
  TASTE: rich; smooth; juicy; a tad sweet; could this wine be in its sweet spot right now? more fruity than earthy; slight alcohol taste; surprisingly fresh-tasting; not roasted; sweet oak and very ripe plum notes get stronger with air; good balance of fruit-acid-tannin-alcohol; short-medium length finish (25 - 30 sec) of moderate intensity. This wine did get oakier and lost some flash as it saw air; on Day 3 it was an alcoholic mess. I say drink now, as a pop-n-pour, and would additionally suggest drinking it within 2 hours of opening; I do think this is a 90 point wine during the first two hours after it’s opened.
  
  Score over first couple hours:
  B: 50, 5, 11, 17, 7 = 90
  
  Overall score:
  B: 50, 5, 10, 15, 6 = 86

  Comment

• DaveZack wrote: 85 points

  December 28, 2009 - Bought this bottle at the Paso Robles winery tasting room for $34 and took to an Italian restaurant in San Diego's Little Italy (Buon Appetito) and drank with a filet mignon steak with a green peppercorn and brandy sauce. I was expecting much more from this bottle. We were pretty impressed with the other two bottles we bought from Summerwood (their GSM and Sentio VI, two red blends) but were disappointed with this bottle. This Syrah didn't have the depth of flavor and character that other quality California Syrahs have shown; in fact, the wine seemed to be overly ripe/fruity as its fruitiness was about the only characteristic that we noticed. It's almost as if the fruit was left on the vines a week or two too long; another week or two and this wine could have been a wonderful late harvest Syrah dessert wine. If I remember correctly, the alcohol level was almost 16%, approaching Zin Fruit Bomb territory. But as it stands, this Syrah was just too fruity and one-note. It had a nice mouth-feel and went down smooth and easy, but it just didn't have the spiciness, earthiness, and complexity that good California Syrahs possess. Stick with Summerwood's red blends; they're MUCH better.

  Comment

• gregsp wrote: 87 points

  November 14, 2009 - Consistent with prior notes; a solid effort.

  Comment

• grafstrb wrote: 87 points

  September 29, 2009 - – decanted for one hour before tasting –
  – tasted non-blind over 2-3 hours –
  
  NOSE: A rather straightforward bouquet of dark fruits, oak and smoky beef jerky.
  
  BODY: lots of fine particulate matter; medium-full to full bodied; dark purple color of great depth.
  
  TASTE: very ripe, perhaps concentrated, dark fruits – grapey, blackberries; oak; alcohol; hints of woody spice; hint of campfire smokiness; 30 sec. finish is shorter than I expected from this wine, given its weight, density, and alcohol (15.5%). Obviously a warm climate new world syrah. Definitely showing better than the last bottle I had. Solid, not spectacular.
  
  B: 50, 5, 11, 15, 6 = 87

  Comment

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Wine Definition

• Vintage 2005
• Type Red
• Producer Summerwood
• Varietal Syrah
• Designation n/a
• Vineyard n/a
• Country USA
• Region California
• SubRegion Central Coast
• Appellation Paso Robles

Community Holdings

• Pending Delivery 0 (0%)
• In Cellars 20 (29%)
• Consumed 50 (71%)

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