Started off smoky and savory and then moved too dark fruit and spice. Wish the savoryness would have lasted a little longer but overall this was a killer Santa Lucia Syrah.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Dark purple brown, dry with tart chewy tannins on the PnP, fruit mid between bold and restrained, blackberry with some lemon notes. I really get the fruit compote/lemon finish. Developing some of the bright berry, blackberry and loganberry with some lightly bitter chalky tannins. This is a food wine with similarities to Tuscan IGT.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
2 years since the last bottle. Tonight, I wanted a darker syrah, with lots of fruit and plushness. This did the trick. Lots of blackberry fruit, plush and nearly full bodied. And then a day later, there is some additional acidity tempering the fruit, adding a light licorice and tarry note. In the end though, this is squarely about fresh picked blackberry fruit and a wine that drinks fine now and given the way this vintage is expressed. In fact, I'd not age this wine much longer--enjoy it now for the fruit and easy drinking. FWIW, a question may be raised about alcohol, given the larger fruit expression--I don't sense any booze here. It drinks clean and pure.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
The nose seems a little bit obscured by alcohol but there's definitely black pepper. The body is thick and ripe but not jammy. The palate is ripe, too: this is a fruit-driven syrah full of black berries. Finishes with a zing of tannin. Quite nice, just wish it was more aromatic.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Pop and pour; dark purple, silty translucent at the rim; initial nose of meats and olive brine, then with 20 minutes of air blue and black fruits with some sweetness; palate was spicy, fruity, and some chalkiness; with further time, the fruit became more rounded; lighter weight and smooth mouthfeel; very strong tannic structure. If I had another bottle I'd give this a little more time.
Absolutely loved this wine. This was the first SLH Syrah I have tried and it was fantastic. Big, dark, spicy wine that had layers and layers of flavor.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Round with sweet tannins. Initial aromas of stewed fruit gave way to pleasant flavors of blackberries, tar, and pine needles. Extremely long finish. Big wine, yet balanced, Nice job. Best if cellared for 3-5 years.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Open about 90 mins. Color is dark in the glass as I'd expect from this vineyard, which is essentially Pisoni Estate syrah. Listed alc is 14.7%. I drank the wine at a temp of about 65. Aromatically, graphite/metal shaving and slight heat. As the wine has sat out, it's picked up a zesty edge, a blue fruit and dark plum, juicy, tarry and yet in the palate and finish, the molten-like quality that Susan's seems to express. What I often got on earlier vintages of Susan's was an apricot pit, something I find a bit of here again, too, what I think for Susan's, like akin to the Rosella's grapefruit, is a signature terroir for this vineyard. The finish closes out with the same juicy note, some black licorice and a touch of chocolate. The following day, with the wine pretty well slox oxed, there is some structure in the finish that I didn't sense yesterday, a better emergence of a zesty and loamy quality, which I very much like. It adds a counterpoint to the fruit and gives it a youthful quality. This may edit for me a longer aging window, one that is longer than I offered last June in my last note. With that, I would say drink now (with a decant) but better in 2013 through 2015.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Opened last night, drank a large glass with dinner (veggie burger) and then tonight enjoyed again, this time with a red sauce pasta, fresh grated parm, garlic bread and some garden swiss chard (steamed and seasoned). god, syrah and garlic bread is a dynamite combo with me, as I love the flavors of the bread, parm and bit pf red pepper flake against the dark flavors of syrah. Listed alcohol here is 14.7%. This wine is less structured than the past, with this 2009 being more generous, a pretty smooth texture, along with some tar, creosote, dark plum, blackberry, some stone fruit pit like an apricot. Overall, this is a big wine, bigger in flavor and tone than the Rosella's, with lots of CA forward notes. I don't see this version being a long ager but if you want to slot in a dark wine with larger size flavors, this 2009 is in that vein.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
9/1/2018 - Night Train Likes this wine: 88 Points
Took to a party, so no detailed notes. Good varietal character, but it seemed slightly past its prime. Still OK, but it's time to drink up.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/29/2015 - Aparritz Likes this wine: 92 Points
Started off smoky and savory and then moved too dark fruit and spice. Wish the savoryness would have lasted a little longer but overall this was a killer Santa Lucia Syrah.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
1/31/2015 - dsgris Likes this wine: 91 Points
Dark purple brown, dry with tart chewy tannins on the PnP, fruit mid between bold and restrained, blackberry with some lemon notes. I really get the fruit compote/lemon finish. Developing some of the bright berry, blackberry and loganberry with some lightly bitter chalky tannins. This is a food wine with similarities to Tuscan IGT.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
5/27/2014 - Frank Murray III wrote:
2 years since the last bottle. Tonight, I wanted a darker syrah, with lots of fruit and plushness. This did the trick. Lots of blackberry fruit, plush and nearly full bodied. And then a day later, there is some additional acidity tempering the fruit, adding a light licorice and tarry note. In the end though, this is squarely about fresh picked blackberry fruit and a wine that drinks fine now and given the way this vintage is expressed. In fact, I'd not age this wine much longer--enjoy it now for the fruit and easy drinking. FWIW, a question may be raised about alcohol, given the larger fruit expression--I don't sense any booze here. It drinks clean and pure.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
7/5/2013 - diggydan wrote: 88 Points
The nose seems a little bit obscured by alcohol but there's definitely black pepper. The body is thick and ripe but not jammy. The palate is ripe, too: this is a fruit-driven syrah full of black berries. Finishes with a zing of tannin. Quite nice, just wish it was more aromatic.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
6/6/2013 - tcufletch wrote:
Pop and pour; dark purple, silty translucent at the rim; initial nose of meats and olive brine, then with 20 minutes of air blue and black fruits with some sweetness; palate was spicy, fruity, and some chalkiness; with further time, the fruit became more rounded; lighter weight and smooth mouthfeel; very strong tannic structure. If I had another bottle I'd give this a little more time.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comments (3)
9/21/2012 - moudy wrote: 95 Points
Absolutely loved this wine. This was the first SLH Syrah I have tried and it was fantastic. Big, dark, spicy wine that had layers and layers of flavor.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
4/20/2012 - babnik wrote:
Round with sweet tannins. Initial aromas of stewed fruit gave way to pleasant flavors of blackberries, tar, and pine needles. Extremely long finish. Big wine, yet balanced, Nice job. Best if cellared for 3-5 years.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
3/6/2012 - Frank Murray III wrote:
Open about 90 mins. Color is dark in the glass as I'd expect from this vineyard, which is essentially Pisoni Estate syrah. Listed alc is 14.7%. I drank the wine at a temp of about 65. Aromatically, graphite/metal shaving and slight heat. As the wine has sat out, it's picked up a zesty edge, a blue fruit and dark plum, juicy, tarry and yet in the palate and finish, the molten-like quality that Susan's seems to express. What I often got on earlier vintages of Susan's was an apricot pit, something I find a bit of here again, too, what I think for Susan's, like akin to the Rosella's grapefruit, is a signature terroir for this vineyard. The finish closes out with the same juicy note, some black licorice and a touch of chocolate. The following day, with the wine pretty well slox oxed, there is some structure in the finish that I didn't sense yesterday, a better emergence of a zesty and loamy quality, which I very much like. It adds a counterpoint to the fruit and gives it a youthful quality. This may edit for me a longer aging window, one that is longer than I offered last June in my last note. With that, I would say drink now (with a decant) but better in 2013 through 2015.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
9/8/2011 - zscheiner wrote:
2009 Novy Syrahs: Blindtasting with Adam Lee (Tom's House, Palo Alto, CA): Reticent nose, some fresh blackberries peeking through. Medium bodied, with black plum fruit. Softer than others in this lineup with lighter tannins. (my 4th, group's 4th)
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
6/20/2011 - Frank Murray III wrote:
Opened last night, drank a large glass with dinner (veggie burger) and then tonight enjoyed again, this time with a red sauce pasta, fresh grated parm, garlic bread and some garden swiss chard (steamed and seasoned). god, syrah and garlic bread is a dynamite combo with me, as I love the flavors of the bread, parm and bit pf red pepper flake against the dark flavors of syrah. Listed alcohol here is 14.7%. This wine is less structured than the past, with this 2009 being more generous, a pretty smooth texture, along with some tar, creosote, dark plum, blackberry, some stone fruit pit like an apricot. Overall, this is a big wine, bigger in flavor and tone than the Rosella's, with lots of CA forward notes. I don't see this version being a long ager but if you want to slot in a dark wine with larger size flavors, this 2009 is in that vein.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment