2006 Sine Qua Non Syrah Raven Series
Community Tasting Note
bengti Likes this wine:
Wednesday, June 1, 2016 - Great massive EPIC steak dinner. The last I opened this (note is in CT too) this was a good though just shy of great showing. I suspect bottle variation because on that occasion, the cork was dry and broke halfway through the pull. Alternatively, the breathing time was not optimal at 2.5 hours or so, by the time dinner rolled around, the wine was good, but more genteel good than the usual SQN powerhouse. Somewhat flat also stole the gloss off the champion's plate.
This time, the cork was healthily strong and I went with a 4.5~5.5 hour decant. At the pop, a bloom of lavender, cherry, pepper fragrance waffed up from the bottle. The colour was slightly pale crimson, perhaps pointing to the decade in rest. Nose then shut down for a couple of hours, I held off tasting it till it showed signs of opening up again.
Around the 4 hour mark, slight pour to taste and that lush perfume again came back, more developed, hinting at chocolate, gravel, hay, grass in spring, almost Left Bank-ish. Signature candied fruit appeared, and the wine was a muscular sinewy elixir, with flavour you could bite into, concentration yet delicate balance and a airiness supported by its high alcohol punch. A long finish that spreads a warm glow deliciously over one's chest cavity. Very promising.
Into dinner full swing, this was a star. Smooth yet unctuously juicy, with dark chocolate, leather, licorice, seemlessly integrated and cushioned on lovely alcohol levels. Some choice descriptions: 'This is Brooke Shields when she was 18 and in the Blue Lagoon', 'A supercar on stealth wheels'. There is only one thing left to say and do - buy some more !
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