It's a little cool here...90 down from 111...so I thought I'd crack open a papa Seymour's! 16.5% doesn't scare me when the balance is THIS good! Huge extracted liqueured berry fruits...little more red berry than I thought it would be? Amazing perfumed aromas of olives, licorice, creme de cassis, lilac, white pepper, raspberry jam. Palate coating full bodied goodness...some tangy acidity to liven, dry graphite tannins with a velvet grip...complex flavors abound...olives, dark chocolate covered blueberries/cherry, smoke cherry wood bbq, white pepper, little asphalt(way less than older Alban), crushed charcoal/granite. The slightest little bit of heat sneaking in on the finish, but really rather balanced for this big boy. Super tasty wine when your in the mood for something manly!
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This is showing really well. 2 hour decant. Color is deep and dark and youthful. Nice nose, lots of floral notes (acacia?), plum, black cherry. Delicious. Lingering tart palate with nice fruit. Maybe (today?) lacks the secondaries to be special. Not sure how it will age but drinking great. 2017-2024
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BYO - US wines (NO.2): What an extreme wine. Packed with sweet intensity and smoke but also plenty of minerality to keep everything in a fairly balanced state. It is truly an extraordinary wine and almost over the top due to the alcohol which is dominating a bit to much. I LOVE it :-)
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Meaty, beefy, big and bouncy, this wine has so much ripe fruit packed into each taste, it's almost too much of a good thing. Loaded with jam, pepper, smoke, earth, blueberry, blackberries and vanilla, this is extremely powerful and concentrated. But there is an elegance to the fruit and texture that makes it all come together.
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Rich, delicious, full-bodied blackberry fruit with earthy, meaty flavors, superb structure, smoother than the Reva, elegant, flavors very well integrated, long finish, truly beautiful wine
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Inky, teeth staining color, this is major statement loaded with bacon fat, black and blue fruit, and a touch of pepper and licorice; there`s some heat suggesting high alcohol content although I failed to note what it was; it`s quite a serious extracted wine which has much appeal to many.
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Napa Offline and a whole bunch of wine, mostly Syrah (Napa Valley Wine & Cigar): Another wine the seemingly was controversial. Purple and inky in color. Still quite young. The nose is spice, black raspberries and a bit of gaminess. Smooth and complex if tightly layered. Some charred oak shows thru on the palate, along with copious amounts of black raspberries, fresh and pie filling. Long finish. Great body, lush and juicy. I would hold still, but a lovely wine.
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Wow. Spectacular stuff. Inky, dark, concentrated, ripe. Definitely too young, but at the same time I'd be willing to drink my remaining bottle tomorrow, it was that good. Will reward 4-5 years of cellar time, but who can wait?
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It's been a very long while since I have tasted this wine! Very dark, near opaque garnet color with a tinge of black. The nose is evocative of licorice, menthol with a hint of eucaliptic aromas. This is pure Alban terrior. In the mouth, the flavors expolde with earthy, blackberry and mentholated smoke. I find the heat on the finish a bit high at 16.5%. I would age this blockbuster another five years! EG
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One of the biggest wines I've ever had, the 2004 Alban Seymour's was a monster. The wine was nearly black in color with a nose of dark fruits and cedar. I opened the wine on Saturday afternoon and it was still monsterous drinking out of the refrigerator on Monday night. Flavors of dark fruit, tapanade, motor oil, licorice and anise. Still very tannic. Very high alcohol that I would hope would blow off with time. I found the wine clumsy, but could see that it could come into balance with time given the gobs of fruit and tannins. The extended barrel aging is very apparent in the noticeable wood notes. Still too dense and chewy, it was way too early to be drinking this wine. I would wait 5-10 years before circling back on this one. A very good wine, but too overblown for me. For those liking giants, you'll like this one.
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Very complex. Opened up relatively uninspired, then brought in a little bit of gunpowder. Moved on to tighten up, then blackberry and rasberry. Then vanilla and finally white chocolate. Drank with bill at momofuku
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Black in color. Brooding dark fruit nose. Tastes of blackberry, tobacco, leather and earth. Big rich mid palate with a complex finish. Actually well balanced for such an enormous wine. This wine restores my faith in Alban as of late but nowhere near the 99 points anointed by Parker.
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Wineflock - Alban Intro/Retro (Home): Group #1, My #1 - Opaque deep black red color. Big sweet black fruit nose with chocolate notes. Mmmmn, huge big black sweet fruit with chocolate notes carry through on the palate. A stunning wine.
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popped and poured into the decanter, at 30 minutes tried a sample. Color was an opaque purple/alcohol, briar, spice and dark fruit was on the nose/the wine was very grapey and sweet wo much complexity at this point...after 3 hours in the decanter, tannins had firmed up, and still at the level of before, not impressed...poured back into the bottle for day two, much improved, nose of mushrooms, alcohol and blueberries/tannins had settled but were still present on the finish. Very sweet. No where near the complexity or enjoyment of the 03. I will let my other bottle rest, reduction is evident...where is the beef and iodine that I enjoyed so much in past vintages, perhaps this vintage was a freak...I wish I would have hit the bid last year on these, par for the course for my experience with the 04 reds (Reva/Lorraine/Pandora/Seymour's)
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Best of American Syrah Blind Tasting (Hughes House - Chicago IL): Tasted blind. Massive fruit simply wallops you over the head. A bit of SO2 stood out for me. Little subtlety to start, then some acidity and finer textures come through in middle and finish. Give this plenty of time in the cellar.
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Great American Syrah Shootout II (Chicago, IL): Black in color. Delicious, complex nose shows black fruit, toast, spice, a significant earth component as well as meat and olives. Just lovely on the palate. Intense, rich, complex and well balanced. Flavors on top of flavors unfold into a long, rich, lively and simply delicious finish. Just a killer, killer wine. I probably under-ranked this one. My #5, Group #6.
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Wineflock - Best of American Syrah (Home): Group #6, My #4 - Full deep opaque black color. Forward bright black fruit with a hint of violet and a touch of heat. Mmmn, interesting complex black cassis fruit with coffee and tar notes. Hints of sweetness in the black fruit with chocolate undertones. Very nice.
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BYO Californian (Le Sommelier): Tight black color. Amazingly complex nose with liver paté with olives, iron, meat, pencil shavings, gunpowder and oak resulting in mocha and coconut. Very heavy on the palate with loads of black fruit and iron. Super intense, opulent and powerful, bringing warm, new world tone to the fruit, but backs it up with notes of iron and meat. The finish has impressions of the oak, vanila and coconut. Truly monstrous, yet refined in its own fantastic manner.
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6/10/2020 - Kevnzworld wrote: 95 Points
1 hour decant.
A full body juicy savory balanced blend of wine.
Dark chocolate and dark berries in a glass. This is almost a dessert wine
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6/27/2017 - Mrbuzz Likes this wine: 97 Points
It's a little cool here...90 down from 111...so I thought I'd crack open a papa Seymour's! 16.5% doesn't scare me when the balance is THIS good! Huge extracted liqueured berry fruits...little more red berry than I thought it would be? Amazing perfumed aromas of olives, licorice, creme de cassis, lilac, white pepper, raspberry jam. Palate coating full bodied goodness...some tangy acidity to liven, dry graphite tannins with a velvet grip...complex flavors abound...olives, dark chocolate covered blueberries/cherry, smoke cherry wood bbq, white pepper, little asphalt(way less than older Alban), crushed charcoal/granite. The slightest little bit of heat sneaking in on the finish, but really rather balanced for this big boy. Super tasty wine when your in the mood for something manly!
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5/11/2017 - Ridgerunner Likes this wine: 94 Points
Some of the best of Central Coast syrah.
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4/28/2017 - rcg62 Likes this wine: 94 Points
This is showing really well. 2 hour decant. Color is deep and dark and youthful. Nice nose, lots of floral notes (acacia?), plum, black cherry. Delicious. Lingering tart palate with nice fruit. Maybe (today?) lacks the secondaries to be special. Not sure how it will age but drinking great. 2017-2024
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5/13/2016 - bobwire Likes this wine: 99 Points
Spectacular in every way. High alcohol content was barely noticeable. Smooth and silky.
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12/28/2014 - KenK Likes this wine: 95 Points
Big powerful & delish! Drinking great!
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11/28/2014 - canan wrote: 96 Points
BYO - US wines (NO.2): What an extreme wine. Packed with sweet intensity and smoke but also plenty of minerality to keep everything in a fairly balanced state.
It is truly an extraordinary wine and almost over the top due to the alcohol which is dominating a bit to much.
I LOVE it :-)
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8/26/2013 - Jeff Leve wrote: 96 Points
Meaty, beefy, big and bouncy, this wine has so much ripe fruit packed into each taste, it's almost too much of a good thing. Loaded with jam, pepper, smoke, earth, blueberry, blackberries and vanilla, this is extremely powerful and concentrated. But there is an elegance to the fruit and texture that makes it all come together.
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12/9/2012 - Amerique wrote: 96 Points
Rich, delicious, full-bodied blackberry fruit with earthy, meaty flavors, superb structure, smoother than the Reva, elegant, flavors very well integrated, long finish, truly beautiful wine
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11/20/2012 - Blake Brown Likes this wine: 93 Points
Inky, teeth staining color, this is major statement loaded with bacon fat, black and blue fruit, and a touch of pepper and licorice; there`s some heat suggesting high alcohol content although I failed to note what it was; it`s quite a serious extracted wine which has much appeal to many.
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6/19/2012 - Swdelaney wrote: 100 Points
Fantastic! Big, full wine. One of the best we've had!
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6/17/2011 - ews3 wrote: 96 Points
Great Grapes for a Great Cause SQN Tasting -- 4th Annual; 6/17/2011-6/18/2011 (Mandarin Oriental, Washington DC): lots of spiciness on the palate of this. i was a big fan of this and will seek it out.
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3/6/2011 - Loren Sonkin wrote: 95 Points
Napa Offline and a whole bunch of wine, mostly Syrah (Napa Valley Wine & Cigar): Another wine the seemingly was controversial. Purple and inky in color. Still quite young. The nose is spice, black raspberries and a bit of gaminess. Smooth and complex if tightly layered. Some charred oak shows thru on the palate, along with copious amounts of black raspberries, fresh and pie filling. Long finish. Great body, lush and juicy. I would hold still, but a lovely wine.
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10/12/2010 - bonedocnine wrote: 95 Points
Simply delicious!
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9/15/2010 - MarkC Likes this wine:
Wow. Spectacular stuff. Inky, dark, concentrated, ripe. Definitely too young, but at the same time I'd be willing to drink my remaining bottle tomorrow, it was that good. Will reward 4-5 years of cellar time, but who can wait?
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5/10/2010 - WineArchitect wrote: 95 Points
It's been a very long while since I have tasted this wine! Very dark, near opaque garnet color with a tinge of black. The nose is evocative of licorice, menthol with a hint of eucaliptic aromas. This is pure Alban terrior. In the mouth, the flavors expolde with earthy, blackberry and mentholated smoke. I find the heat on the finish a bit high at 16.5%. I would age this blockbuster another five years! EG
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1/9/2010 - rthun wrote: 94 Points
One of the biggest wines I've ever had, the 2004 Alban Seymour's was a monster. The wine was nearly black in color with a nose of dark fruits and cedar. I opened the wine on Saturday afternoon and it was still monsterous drinking out of the refrigerator on Monday night. Flavors of dark fruit, tapanade, motor oil, licorice and anise. Still very tannic. Very high alcohol that I would hope would blow off with time. I found the wine clumsy, but could see that it could come into balance with time given the gobs of fruit and tannins. The extended barrel aging is very apparent in the noticeable wood notes. Still too dense and chewy, it was way too early to be drinking this wine. I would wait 5-10 years before circling back on this one. A very good wine, but too overblown for me. For those liking giants, you'll like this one.
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8/6/2009 - marcol wrote: 95 Points
Very complex. Opened up relatively uninspired, then brought in a little bit of gunpowder. Moved on to tighten up, then blackberry and rasberry. Then vanilla and finally white chocolate. Drank with bill at momofuku
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7/24/2009 - kstoddard wrote: 93 Points
Black in color. Brooding dark fruit nose. Tastes of blackberry, tobacco, leather and earth. Big rich mid palate with a complex finish. Actually well balanced for such an enormous wine. This wine restores my faith in Alban as of late but nowhere near the 99 points anointed by Parker.
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6/15/2009 - winefool wrote: 96 Points
Wineflock - Alban Intro/Retro (Home): Group #1, My #1 - Opaque deep black red color. Big sweet black fruit nose with chocolate notes. Mmmmn, huge big black sweet fruit with chocolate notes carry through on the palate. A stunning wine.
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5/3/2009 - JLL wrote: 91 Points
popped and poured into the decanter, at 30 minutes tried a sample. Color was an opaque purple/alcohol, briar, spice and dark fruit was on the nose/the wine was very grapey and sweet wo much complexity at this point...after 3 hours in the decanter, tannins had firmed up, and still at the level of before, not impressed...poured back into the bottle for day two, much improved, nose of mushrooms, alcohol and blueberries/tannins had settled but were still present on the finish. Very sweet. No where near the complexity or enjoyment of the 03. I will let my other bottle rest, reduction is evident...where is the beef and iodine that I enjoyed so much in past vintages, perhaps this vintage was a freak...I wish I would have hit the bid last year on these, par for the course for my experience with the 04 reds (Reva/Lorraine/Pandora/Seymour's)
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10/24/2008 - Burgundy Al wrote: 89 Points
Best of American Syrah Blind Tasting (Hughes House - Chicago IL): Tasted blind. Massive fruit simply wallops you over the head. A bit of SO2 stood out for me. Little subtlety to start, then some acidity and finer textures come through in middle and finish. Give this plenty of time in the cellar.
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10/24/2008 - Nanda wrote: 96 Points
Great American Syrah Shootout II (Chicago, IL): Black in color. Delicious, complex nose shows black fruit, toast, spice, a significant earth component as well as meat and olives. Just lovely on the palate. Intense, rich, complex and well balanced. Flavors on top of flavors unfold into a long, rich, lively and simply delicious finish. Just a killer, killer wine. I probably under-ranked this one. My #5, Group #6.
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10/24/2008 - winefool wrote: 95 Points
Wineflock - Best of American Syrah (Home): Group #6, My #4 - Full deep opaque black color. Forward bright black fruit with a hint of violet and a touch of heat. Mmmn, interesting complex black cassis fruit with coffee and tar notes. Hints of sweetness in the black fruit with chocolate undertones. Very nice.
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10/6/2008 - Terkel wrote: 97 Points
BYO Californian (Le Sommelier): Tight black color. Amazingly complex nose with liver paté with olives, iron, meat, pencil shavings, gunpowder and oak resulting in mocha and coconut. Very heavy on the palate with loads of black fruit and iron. Super intense, opulent and powerful, bringing warm, new world tone to the fruit, but backs it up with notes of iron and meat. The finish has impressions of the oak, vanila and coconut. Truly monstrous, yet refined in its own fantastic manner.
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5/12/2006 - kstoddard wrote: 94 Points
Hospice du Rhone 2006 (Paso Robles): Barrel sample
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