The wine is a fairly dark ruby to maroon color. The very nice nose has blackberries, smoked meat, black pepper, baking spices, charcoal, vanilla, forest floor, and a touch of stems. This has medium body, moderate tannins, and good acidity. On the palate the spicy, peppery berries hit first followed by smoked meat and vanilla. The finish has good length but does show a touch of stems that sticks out a touch to prominently. This would merit a higher score if the stems didn't leave a lingering greenish note.
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smoked bacon, dark fruit, and some pepper on the nose, balanced with a nice finish of cherry and vanilla, prominant oak. Have one more bottle, will drink in 6 to 12 months .
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Decanted for about an hour. Deep, dark, inky purple color. Blackberry, blueberry, smoked meat, pepper, vanilla, and some cherry on the very nice nose. Medium body with ripe, chewy tannins and good acidity. Rich and velvety on the palate. With air a bit of chocolate appears. The tannins last through the finish. A bit of an herbal/stemmy note pops out on the finish. This needs cellar time, but I have a feeling the tannins will always be prominant. The herbal/stemmy note is more bothersome to me.
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Delightful, but not without opportunity to be better. Fruit a bit hidden by alcohol and acidity. I find the tannins nicely in balance - although others do not. Exceleent choice with barbecue pork chops, for which the strength of the wine was a good match.
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Dark Purple. Lots of Tar and smoke on the nose, with some farm fields action. Medium bodied. More tannic than Acidic. The alcohol is high on this Syrah, and I felt the fruit was having a hard time competing. The Black berry and Boysenberry fruit components were more sweet than acidic. It had some weight, and went farily well with grilled fare this evening. Glad I tried this, but would not seek it out.
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Gets a heavy treatment of oak. Kinda obscures the fruit. Even the nose is woody. Quick pop of red fruit then the just gets crushed. Meaty, chewy. Finishes tannic and harsh. Not a good wine This wine needs to be drunk with food.
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NIce color. Opens with a bit of a meaty streak, followed by bosenberry, pomegranate and raspberry reduction. With air, it develops a darker fruit profile and takes on a touch of mint too. Medium-bodied, with chewy red berry fruit, bouillon and black cherry flavors. 88-89 pts.
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Decent for 20.00 price point, but lacking something overall. Liked it better after some 20 mins oxidation time. Decent nose, mouthful of fruit - dark berry. Presence of tannins but not over powering but the finish isn't soft. Likely better with food or age. Like but don't love.
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My First note in awhile - overall this was a great bottle. Popped and poured but needed about 30 minutes to really open up. Dark purple wine; blueberries, meat on the nose; up front blue fruits, spice, and a decent dose of cracked pepper on the palate; fine tannins, medium finish. Very nice indeed, a nice qpr.
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Vanilla on the nose, with a touch of smoke. Red fruit is the first impression of the taste. Finishes with a healthy dose of acidity, not fully balanced at the moment, but not entirely unpleasant. Mid palate has a definite smokiness, with slightly dry tannin, that compliments the fruit forward (raspberry?) flavor. Altogether a wine that could be drunk quickly, and would definitely be enjoyable as such, but more of an easy to drink cocktail then a revolutionary wine.
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Less extracted than the 05, but had a little vegetal streak. Some good dark fruit that opened up with a little air. A good syrah at $17 that pairs well with many meat dishes.
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Tasty wine, second of three and really wonderful. Food pairing: lamb sausage with sauteed red onions. Amazing pairing. Just as good the second day. Love the spice and overall balance.
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2009 Family Winemakers of California San Diego Tasting (Del Mar Fairgrounds): Very attractive and complex on the nose with notes of raspberry, blackberry, minerals, and pepper. This impression carries over to the palate which also offers peppery raspberry tone to the fruit. Good overall balance and complexity.
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This was a really nice wine and had alot more going on than I expected. My first Novy and thought that the appellation wine would be fairly simple but found that not to be true. Had some nice earthiness and smoke/spiciness that rounded out the wine nicely to balance the fruit. Medium bodied with good structure. Good value for $20 which is what I think it retails for?
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This was a great QPR syrah in my book. Very nice depth of flavor - starts out with a bang of blackberry and dark fruits, good length on the finish with rich bing cherries coming through. It wasn't terribly complex, but was very fruity and easy. Very enjoyable. Great mid-week or anytime wine.
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This wine underwent quite a change over 2hrs+ and for the better. The nose for the first 30 mins+ was wet, moldy towel wrapped around some pepper & a slight hint of cranberry. It had an bitter, austere finish that had me scractching my head and not even wanting to drink anymore, even after the bottle had been open almost an hour (should have put in the decanter)...I let the bottle sit for another 2hrs+ and revisted.
Nose is strong spice & pepper, almost a matchstick sulfur with a little wet cedar and bit of cranberries. Good complexity of these flavors on the palate...not my favorites, but you can tell they are integrated well. Tannins are firm but it's young. Finish is decent with the fruit showing a bit more along with the cedar lingering. Overall the flavors are not my favortie mix but I can appreciate that it's a good wine...an ok change of pace that I wouldn't want too often..It's like that girl that you know is attractive but for some reason, she just doesn't do it for you
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Shows some pepper and smoke--both delicate but present--along with some dried cherry that has a fleeting ripe edge so not sweet. Bit of game and vanilla show along with some tar. Overall, medium bodied and all the parts with a modest signature.
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8/12/2013 - cbbrown3 wrote: 88 Points
The wine is a fairly dark ruby to maroon color. The very nice nose has blackberries, smoked meat, black pepper, baking spices, charcoal, vanilla, forest floor, and a touch of stems. This has medium body, moderate tannins, and good acidity. On the palate the spicy, peppery berries hit first followed by smoked meat and vanilla. The finish has good length but does show a touch of stems that sticks out a touch to prominently. This would merit a higher score if the stems didn't leave a lingering greenish note.
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12/16/2011 - BATWine wrote: 82 Points
Lost all it's fruit.
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12/14/2011 - vinole wrote: 87 Points
The fruit has faded a bit since last having this in 5/09, leaving the alcohol and tar notes more noticeable. Drink up!
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9/8/2011 - rbeers wrote: 89 Points
smoked bacon, dark fruit, and some pepper on the nose, balanced with a nice finish of cherry and vanilla, prominant oak. Have one more bottle, will drink in 6 to 12 months .
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2/1/2011 - djpo wrote: 85 Points
Nice nose, taste some menthol and rubber. Somewhat vegetal. Might still develop into something interesting.
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1/25/2011 - cbbrown3 wrote: 87 Points
Decanted for about an hour. Deep, dark, inky purple color. Blackberry, blueberry, smoked meat, pepper, vanilla, and some cherry on the very nice nose. Medium body with ripe, chewy tannins and good acidity. Rich and velvety on the palate. With air a bit of chocolate appears. The tannins last through the finish. A bit of an herbal/stemmy note pops out on the finish. This needs cellar time, but I have a feeling the tannins will always be prominant. The herbal/stemmy note is more bothersome to me.
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7/5/2010 - dbarco wrote: 84 Points
Delightful, but not without opportunity to be better. Fruit a bit hidden by alcohol and acidity. I find the tannins nicely in balance - although others do not. Exceleent choice with barbecue pork chops, for which the strength of the wine was a good match.
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6/27/2010 - mpricher wrote: 88 Points
Dark Purple. Lots of Tar and smoke on the nose, with some farm fields action. Medium bodied. More tannic than Acidic. The alcohol is high on this Syrah, and I felt the fruit was having a hard time competing. The Black berry and Boysenberry fruit components were more sweet than acidic. It had some weight, and went farily well with grilled fare this evening. Glad I tried this, but would not seek it out.
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6/22/2010 - CRL Stc wrote: 88 Points
Losing some of it's punch. Coffee on the nose.
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6/6/2010 - Chrisinroch wrote: 80 Points
Gets a heavy treatment of oak. Kinda obscures the fruit. Even the nose is woody. Quick pop of red fruit then the just gets crushed. Meaty, chewy. Finishes tannic and harsh. Not a good wine This wine needs to be drunk with food.
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3/21/2010 - AllRed wrote: 88 Points
NIce color. Opens with a bit of a meaty streak, followed by bosenberry, pomegranate and raspberry reduction. With air, it develops a darker fruit profile and takes on a touch of mint too. Medium-bodied, with chewy red berry fruit, bouillon and black cherry flavors. 88-89 pts.
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2/13/2010 - Wine4Rip wrote: 94 Points
Great!
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2/12/2010 - soyhead wrote: 91 Points
nose - funk, tea, could be old world
mouth - full bodied, voluptuous, fleshy, plummy, big wine, impressed
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2/7/2010 - JazzQueen wrote: 87 Points
Pleasant, nice food wine. A bit pricy for something rather simple. Well balanced though, really can't complain on the flavor.
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12/21/2009 - jono9999 wrote: 86 Points
Very Syrah - earthy peaty nose, berry
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11/6/2009 - J Dogg wrote:
A lot harsher than I remembered it, but it started to settle down with air.
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10/13/2009 - winegr wrote: 87 Points
pretty good, not great. better after air. 87-88
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10/13/2009 - SonomaWilliam wrote: 84 Points
Decent for 20.00 price point, but lacking something overall. Liked it better after some 20 mins oxidation time. Decent nose, mouthful of fruit - dark berry. Presence of tannins but not over powering but the finish isn't soft. Likely better with food or age. Like but don't love.
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10/6/2009 - green-steve wrote: 89 Points
My First note in awhile - overall this was a great bottle. Popped and poured but needed about 30 minutes to really open up. Dark purple wine; blueberries, meat on the nose; up front blue fruits, spice, and a decent dose of cracked pepper on the palate; fine tannins, medium finish. Very nice indeed, a nice qpr.
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6/10/2009 - joraesque wrote: 87 Points
86-87
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6/5/2009 - JeffcB wrote:
Vanilla on the nose, with a touch of smoke. Red fruit is the first impression of the taste. Finishes with a healthy dose of acidity, not fully balanced at the moment, but not entirely unpleasant. Mid palate has a definite smokiness, with slightly dry tannin, that compliments the fruit forward (raspberry?) flavor. Altogether a wine that could be drunk quickly, and would definitely be enjoyable as such, but more of an easy to drink cocktail then a revolutionary wine.
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5/10/2009 - vinole wrote: 88 Points
Less extracted than the 05, but had a little vegetal streak. Some good dark fruit that opened up with a little air. A good syrah at $17 that pairs well with many meat dishes.
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5/7/2009 - plinytheelder wrote: 91 Points
Tasty wine, second of three and really wonderful. Food pairing: lamb sausage with sauteed red onions. Amazing pairing. Just as good the second day. Love the spice and overall balance.
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3/30/2009 - J Dogg wrote:
Definitely not a refined syrah, but it had a rustic black pepper and pastrami appeal that I enjoyed.
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3/15/2009 - Badfish wrote: 91 Points
2009 Family Winemakers of California San Diego Tasting (Del Mar Fairgrounds): Very attractive and complex on the nose with notes of raspberry, blackberry, minerals, and pepper. This impression carries over to the palate which also offers peppery raspberry tone to the fruit. Good overall balance and complexity.
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1/4/2009 - dbarco wrote: 91 Points
Well rounded, balanced, nice strong dark fruit all over it, tannins already somewhat subdued, very nice.
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11/24/2008 - Ekoostik wrote: 89 Points
This was a really nice wine and had alot more going on than I expected. My first Novy and thought that the appellation wine would be fairly simple but found that not to be true. Had some nice earthiness and smoke/spiciness that rounded out the wine nicely to balance the fruit. Medium bodied with good structure. Good value for $20 which is what I think it retails for?
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10/13/2008 - Hoya Vinophile wrote: 88 Points
This was a great QPR syrah in my book. Very nice depth of flavor - starts out with a bang of blackberry and dark fruits, good length on the finish with rich bing cherries coming through. It wasn't terribly complex, but was very fruity and easy. Very enjoyable. Great mid-week or anytime wine.
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9/25/2008 - SacramentoCharlie wrote: 86 Points
This wine underwent quite a change over 2hrs+ and for the better. The nose for the first 30 mins+ was wet, moldy towel wrapped around some pepper & a slight hint of cranberry. It had an bitter, austere finish that had me scractching my head and not even wanting to drink anymore, even after the bottle had been open almost an hour (should have put in the decanter)...I let the bottle sit for another 2hrs+ and revisted.
Nose is strong spice & pepper, almost a matchstick sulfur with a little wet cedar and bit of cranberries. Good complexity of these flavors on the palate...not my favorites, but you can tell they are integrated well. Tannins are firm but it's young. Finish is decent with the fruit showing a bit more along with the cedar lingering. Overall the flavors are not my favortie mix but I can appreciate that it's a good wine...an ok change of pace that I wouldn't want too often..It's like that girl that you know is attractive but for some reason, she just doesn't do it for you
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4/20/2008 - Frank Murray III wrote:
Shows some pepper and smoke--both delicate but present--along with some dried cherry that has a fleeting ripe edge so not sweet. Bit of game and vanilla show along with some tar. Overall, medium bodied and all the parts with a modest signature.
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