Opened and poured. Matchstick and bell pepper aromas on the nose...bottle somewhat off. Dense. Bell pepper notes blew off with air, but still some residuals on the nose and palate. Broad depth, full bodied. Plum paste, dried fruit leathers. Somewhat neutral. Not the best showing for this vineyard or producer.
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Opened yesterday, kept under the open cork overnight and using the last few ounces remaining for my note. This is my final bottle, and 3 years since I tasted the wine last so I had some curiosity about what might be here in a wine that is close to 15 years old. It's not lost any color, as the edges remain purple and red, no browning that I can see. The aromatics have managed to hang together, with the tarry, leather and creosote still showing up. The core of the wine is big, a reminder of the wines back in that era, in Syrahs I liked with bigger weights, alcohol and density. This continues to be a wine with those qualities, and much like the color, the fruit has held together very well in that style. Maybe a little bit of cedar is starting to show in the finish, portending the aging process but it's overshadowed still by the wine's primary power. Some of the SLH citrus remains here, some of the dark chocolate too from my 2017 note. My bet is that this wine can age another 3-5 years and during that time start to show more aged quality.
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Very nicely made. Started off tight but opened up nicely after about 40 minutes. Some typical earthiness with dark fruit flavors. Well balanced and nice acidity and medium finish.
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Over 6 years since the last bottle. Long span, lots can change. I opened this 1/2 hr ago, started off closed/shut. At 30 mins, it's changing. Some metal shaving/graphite, tar and teriyaki jerky flavors start to come out. No surprise, as this is Rosella's terroir. Into the finish, a mix of dark chocolate and citrus, with the latter also being what Rosella's shows when it's on for me. More air for this, we'll see if we can coax out some more complexity....Day 2, drinking at room temp (70f), this is still nicely coiled, which after 10 years is very cool. Plenty of acidity, energy, fruit, all of it packed together in a dark colored wine. Dark fruited, a mix of plum, blackberry, tar and brewed coffee. Finishes with licorice, dark chocolate, rosemary, tar and zingy acidity. And, just a small brushing of black cherry and cedar lurking amongst all the other flavors so perhaps a bit of aged quality just starting to develop but these are outweighted by all the pretty and forceful other notes I mentioned.....Day 3, last pour. So good. Some plushness comes through today, some CA richness yet no alcohol. Just a treat to drink and my best guess on this for aging would be another 3-4 years. The balance in that time between the remaining fruit and structure should be superb. Adam made a real nice version of Rosella's here.
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It took quite a while, but this creosote-soaked duckling has finally turned into a swan. Aside from a hint of licorice, no traces of road tar, etc. remain. Purple. Medium body. Good finish. All kinds of Rhonish complexity - grilled meat, underbrush, minerals, and most of all, white pepper. My last bottle. wish I'd waited 'til now on the others.
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Almost two years since I last tasted this wine. At that time, it was dominated by road tar/creosote. Now it's about 50/50, creosote and fruit (Black and blue). Medium to full body and a fairly good finish, still too wild and wooly for consumption in polite company. I'm going to give my third and final bottle another 18 to 24 months.
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Decanted about an hour. Deep ruby to purple color. Blackberries, fresh cracked black pepper, creosote, smoke, meat juices, some earthiness, and citrus zest on the nose. Medium body with solid tannins and very nice acidity. More savory than fruity on the palate, in a very good way. Fairly long finish with just a bit of stems showing. This is still quite young and needs some air or another year in the cellar. Very enjoyable today, better down the road.
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Opened and decanted about 45 minutes before drinking. Almost overwhelming notes of creosote on the nose. On the palate, the same creosote, along with some black and blue fruit. Over the course of an hour or so, the creosote subsided somewhat, particularly on the palate. BIG fruit, with an almost citrusy note on the finish. Medium body, but the big fruit lingered quite awhile. Once it calms down a little, I THINK this wine will merit a score in the low 90s, but it might take another couple years.
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Evertime I pour this blind people guess it as a Northern Rhone, blood, smoke, sulphur, forest floor, dark fruit, and leather. The Novy single vineyrads are some of my favorite California Syrahs and at affordable prices.
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Frank's notes on target. Good God this wine has really come into it's own. Really spectacular syrah with wonderful Rosellas quirkiness. Grapefruit, mmmmm...
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This bottle is very consistent with my note from November 2009--one of the more consistent bottle to bottle notes I can recall in the past few years from notes I have written. The bottle here open for 24 hours, enjoyed about 1/3rd of it last night and simply then just stuffed the cork back in, drew another large glass out tonight. Black pepper, flowers, citrus, some dark chocolate, middle weighted blue fruit that is silky and expressive. Finishes with grapefruit/kick of citrus, funk, tar and quite zesty. Year after year, Adam gets more out of this vineyard and into this bottle and really shows what terroir and rock solid winemaking can do when paired together. This bottling from Novy continues to be one of my icons for CA syrah. As for aging potential of this wine, it has a long life ahead (which is an edit to my window that I made the last time I wrote the wine up), as the zesty citrus, dark color and flavor should go for several more years. Excellent.
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Similar to last note, but.. Found the nose to be more interesting, more meat and syrah-ness. Also found this to be less sweet. Over two nights, keep getting the impression the best may yet to come with this wine. My last one. Lately I'm finding myself to like anything our of Gary's over Rosella's (Pinot or syrah)
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Nose has the signature Rosella's funkiness and dark fruit. The palate is just really balanced with dark fruits, soy, a hint of beef jerky, and pepper. IMHO nobody does Rosella's Syrah better than Adam. This is just textbook SLH Syrah and a perfect trifecta for Novy with the '05 thru '07 just being outstanding.
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Good wine. So far, prefer it over the Gary's Vineyard Syrah.
Pop and poured over Argentinian fare (chimichurri steak). On the nose and palate, definitely dark berries, black licorice and spice. Would judge it to be a med body Syrah - not overly jammy. Well balanced, w/ the before mentioned taste, with no alcohol peaking through.
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A little too sweet for my liking, not sure if it is a concentration of fruit or a ripeness thing. Big, broad bold dark flavors with some citrus elements & meat elements in the background. Built on a smooth, suave enjoyable texture. I can see why this was scored so highly. I'm just not a big fan of SLH Syrah and this helps to confirm that.
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Delicious. I was searching for a wine with some guts, some pepper, color and verve. Got it. Add some white flower, some tar and blueberry and tangy pepper and finishing with a kiss of oak, bam. Adam, thank you...........And to add to the TN from the wine resting overnight in the bottle, as I often do, an update............this wine is firing on all the right cylinders--the citrus, pepper, meat, dark fruit, it's all in the glass. As to aging the wine, I would say another year maybe two but the wine is really close to being in the early drink window so enjoy now through 2012 would be my window.
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Decanted 1 hour; beautiful dark purple medium bodied wine; interesting bouquet of blue fruits,some citrus, and a few floral notes; palate shows blueberries, a little grapefruit(never tasted this in a Syrah before), and some pepper; fine tannins, gorgeous long lingering finish. My first Novy Syrah and definitely not my last - this was great!
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Drank by myself sometime in late 2008 or early 2009 shortly after receiving the shipment. I enjoyed it and look forward to cellaring the remaining bottles for a few years. Novy makes a great value CA wine and the 2005 Rosella's Vineyard seemed even more delicious than the 2005.
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1/11/2021 - Senso-beak wrote: 78 Points
Opened and poured. Matchstick and bell pepper aromas on the nose...bottle somewhat off. Dense. Bell pepper notes blew off with air, but still some residuals on the nose and palate. Broad depth, full bodied. Plum paste, dried fruit leathers. Somewhat neutral. Not the best showing for this vineyard or producer.
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11/27/2020 - caroleandjay Likes this wine: 90 Points
lotto pepper. Good nose, includes cherry, plum. tobacco, vanilla, baking spices and yes - da peppa. Lots o peppa.
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11/5/2020 - Frank Murray III wrote:
Opened yesterday, kept under the open cork overnight and using the last few ounces remaining for my note. This is my final bottle, and 3 years since I tasted the wine last so I had some curiosity about what might be here in a wine that is close to 15 years old. It's not lost any color, as the edges remain purple and red, no browning that I can see. The aromatics have managed to hang together, with the tarry, leather and creosote still showing up. The core of the wine is big, a reminder of the wines back in that era, in Syrahs I liked with bigger weights, alcohol and density. This continues to be a wine with those qualities, and much like the color, the fruit has held together very well in that style. Maybe a little bit of cedar is starting to show in the finish, portending the aging process but it's overshadowed still by the wine's primary power. Some of the SLH citrus remains here, some of the dark chocolate too from my 2017 note. My bet is that this wine can age another 3-5 years and during that time start to show more aged quality.
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6/14/2018 - macliii Likes this wine: 91 Points
Very nicely made. Started off tight but opened up nicely after about 40 minutes. Some typical earthiness with dark fruit flavors. Well balanced and nice acidity and medium finish.
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5/2/2017 - Frank Murray III wrote:
Over 6 years since the last bottle. Long span, lots can change. I opened this 1/2 hr ago, started off closed/shut. At 30 mins, it's changing. Some metal shaving/graphite, tar and teriyaki jerky flavors start to come out. No surprise, as this is Rosella's terroir. Into the finish, a mix of dark chocolate and citrus, with the latter also being what Rosella's shows when it's on for me. More air for this, we'll see if we can coax out some more complexity....Day 2, drinking at room temp (70f), this is still nicely coiled, which after 10 years is very cool. Plenty of acidity, energy, fruit, all of it packed together in a dark colored wine. Dark fruited, a mix of plum, blackberry, tar and brewed coffee. Finishes with licorice, dark chocolate, rosemary, tar and zingy acidity. And, just a small brushing of black cherry and cedar lurking amongst all the other flavors so perhaps a bit of aged quality just starting to develop but these are outweighted by all the pretty and forceful other notes I mentioned.....Day 3, last pour. So good. Some plushness comes through today, some CA richness yet no alcohol. Just a treat to drink and my best guess on this for aging would be another 3-4 years. The balance in that time between the remaining fruit and structure should be superb. Adam made a real nice version of Rosella's here.
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10/18/2014 - Night Train Likes this wine: 92 Points
It took quite a while, but this creosote-soaked duckling has finally turned into a swan. Aside from a hint of licorice, no traces of road tar, etc. remain. Purple. Medium body. Good finish. All kinds of Rhonish complexity - grilled meat, underbrush, minerals, and most of all, white pepper. My last bottle. wish I'd waited 'til now on the others.
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12/20/2013 - macliii Likes this wine: 92 Points
Wonderful herb, spice and dark fruit notes on the nose and plum, cinnamon and spice on the palate with a medium to long finish.
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2/2/2013 - Night Train Likes this wine: 90 Points
Almost two years since I last tasted this wine. At that time, it was dominated by road tar/creosote. Now it's about 50/50, creosote and fruit (Black and blue). Medium to full body and a fairly good finish, still too wild and wooly for consumption in polite company. I'm going to give my third and final bottle another 18 to 24 months.
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11/25/2011 - cbbrown3 wrote: 92 Points
Decanted about an hour. Deep ruby to purple color. Blackberries, fresh cracked black pepper, creosote, smoke, meat juices, some earthiness, and citrus zest on the nose. Medium body with solid tannins and very nice acidity. More savory than fruity on the palate, in a very good way. Fairly long finish with just a bit of stems showing. This is still quite young and needs some air or another year in the cellar. Very enjoyable today, better down the road.
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5/18/2011 - Night Train wrote: 89 Points
Opened and decanted about 45 minutes before drinking. Almost overwhelming notes of creosote on the nose. On the palate, the same creosote, along with some black and blue fruit. Over the course of an hour or so, the creosote subsided somewhat, particularly on the palate. BIG fruit, with an almost citrusy note on the finish. Medium body, but the big fruit lingered quite awhile. Once it calms down a little, I THINK this wine will merit a score in the low 90s, but it might take another couple years.
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3/29/2011 - TD2Irish wrote: 91 Points
Evertime I pour this blind people guess it as a Northern Rhone, blood, smoke, sulphur, forest floor, dark fruit, and leather. The Novy single vineyrads are some of my favorite California Syrahs and at affordable prices.
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3/26/2011 - mwesson Likes this wine: 93 Points
Frank's notes on target. Good God this wine has really come into it's own. Really spectacular syrah with wonderful Rosellas quirkiness. Grapefruit, mmmmm...
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2/2/2011 - Frank Murray III wrote:
This bottle is very consistent with my note from November 2009--one of the more consistent bottle to bottle notes I can recall in the past few years from notes I have written. The bottle here open for 24 hours, enjoyed about 1/3rd of it last night and simply then just stuffed the cork back in, drew another large glass out tonight. Black pepper, flowers, citrus, some dark chocolate, middle weighted blue fruit that is silky and expressive. Finishes with grapefruit/kick of citrus, funk, tar and quite zesty. Year after year, Adam gets more out of this vineyard and into this bottle and really shows what terroir and rock solid winemaking can do when paired together. This bottling from Novy continues to be one of my icons for CA syrah. As for aging potential of this wine, it has a long life ahead (which is an edit to my window that I made the last time I wrote the wine up), as the zesty citrus, dark color and flavor should go for several more years. Excellent.
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12/29/2010 - tim_c wrote: 90 Points
Similar to last note, but.. Found the nose to be more interesting, more meat and syrah-ness. Also found this to be less sweet. Over two nights, keep getting the impression the best may yet to come with this wine. My last one. Lately I'm finding myself to like anything our of Gary's over Rosella's (Pinot or syrah)
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12/27/2010 - Emmadiane wrote: 94 Points
A memorable wine! It has white pepper and a barnyard funk and that makes it so complex and absolutely delicious.
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6/19/2010 - glaze3 wrote:
Nose has the signature Rosella's funkiness and dark fruit. The palate is just really balanced with dark fruits, soy, a hint of beef jerky, and pepper. IMHO nobody does Rosella's Syrah better than Adam. This is just textbook SLH Syrah and a perfect trifecta for Novy with the '05 thru '07 just being outstanding.
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6/5/2010 - KDutti wrote: 88 Points
Good wine. So far, prefer it over the Gary's Vineyard Syrah.
Pop and poured over Argentinian fare (chimichurri steak). On the nose and palate, definitely dark berries, black licorice and spice. Would judge it to be a med body Syrah - not overly jammy. Well balanced, w/ the before mentioned taste, with no alcohol peaking through.
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11/23/2009 - tim_c wrote: 90 Points
A little too sweet for my liking, not sure if it is a concentration of fruit or a ripeness thing. Big, broad bold dark flavors with some citrus elements & meat elements in the background. Built on a smooth, suave enjoyable texture. I can see why this was scored so highly. I'm just not a big fan of SLH Syrah and this helps to confirm that.
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11/3/2009 - Frank Murray III wrote:
Delicious. I was searching for a wine with some guts, some pepper, color and verve. Got it. Add some white flower, some tar and blueberry and tangy pepper and finishing with a kiss of oak, bam. Adam, thank you...........And to add to the TN from the wine resting overnight in the bottle, as I often do, an update............this wine is firing on all the right cylinders--the citrus, pepper, meat, dark fruit, it's all in the glass. As to aging the wine, I would say another year maybe two but the wine is really close to being in the early drink window so enjoy now through 2012 would be my window.
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6/10/2009 - joraesque wrote: 87 Points
Great aging potential. 87+
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3/21/2009 - jfkwines wrote:
Fruity, nice not fully ready to go yet. Chuck seemed to enjoy
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1/2/2009 - green-steve wrote: 91 Points
Decanted 1 hour; beautiful dark purple medium bodied wine; interesting bouquet of blue fruits,some citrus, and a few floral notes; palate shows blueberries, a little grapefruit(never tasted this in a Syrah before), and some pepper; fine tannins, gorgeous long lingering finish. My first Novy Syrah and definitely not my last - this was great!
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12/31/2008 - DRA wrote: 90 Points
Drank by myself sometime in late 2008 or early 2009 shortly after receiving the shipment. I enjoyed it and look forward to cellaring the remaining bottles for a few years. Novy makes a great value CA wine and the 2005 Rosella's Vineyard seemed even more delicious than the 2005.
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