2003 Jade Mountain Syrah Paras Vineyard

Community Tasting Notes (24) Avg Score: 91.5 points

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  9/6/2020 - Somm David T Likes this wine: 92 Points

  Nose reveals ripe, slightly stewed & baked; dark cherries, blackberries, mixture fresh of our fruits as well as blue fruits with hints of faint poached strawberries. Sweet tarriness, black licorice, black pepper, dark steeped fruit tea, expresso roast, bay leaf, dry crushed rocks, barrel shavings, dark, rich earthiness with dry leaves, mid dark spice, limestone minerals, dry top soil, underbrush with fresh & withering; dark, red, purple, blue florals framed in heavy lavender and soft violets.
  
  The palate is, ripe, rich, elegant, round and lush. After roughly 15 years in bottle, she shows, rounded, dusty, chewy/meaty, dry tannins. The structure, tension, balance & length are just the other side of its peak. The fruits like the nose are slightly stewed & baked; dark cherries, blackberries, mixture fresh of our fruits as well as blue fruits with hints of faint poached strawberries. Sweet tarriness, anise to black licorice, cinnamon, vanilla, black pepper, smoked meats, dark steeped fruit tea, expresso roast, bay leaf, dry crushed rocks, old tobacco, barrel shavings, dark, rich earthiness with dry leaves, mid dark spice, limestone minerals, dry top soil, very dry underbrush, some tree bark/sap with brilliant, fresh & withering; dark, red, purple, blue florals framed in heavy lavender and soft violets. The acidity is really nice...like a cool mountain stream. The long finish is delicious and persist endlessly into dry, dark spice on the long set.
  
  Still has another 3-5 years of good drinking ahead of it depending on your storage and the age you like your wine to show.
  
  Photos of; Previous Owner-Jim Paras (left) with Winemaker Douglas Danielak, Paras Vineyard Syrah clusters ready for harvest and their Paras Vineyard.
  
  Producer notes, San Francisco Lawyer Jim Paras started the winery in 1984. At the time, he produced about 8,000 cases a year of Syrah, Merlot, Mourvhdre and Viognier. In 1994, Chalone began distributing his wines and eventually bought the winery in 2000.

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  10/8/2019 - EMark Likes this wine:

  I picked this up (along with four other bottles of the same) at an estate sale for $5/bottle. Storage was sketchy, but what the heck. Well, I really scored. I pretty darned good wine. Very nice ruby color--no bricking. Very shy nose. Red fruit on the tip of the tongue--tending towards candied, but not bad. Some mid-palate mineral flavors. Acid and tannin are, pretty much, resolved. Some "roughness" on the rear palate that lingers through a lengthy finish, but that makes me think I'm drinking a real wine.

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  2/19/2016 - mwneil Likes this wine: 94 Points

  Great wine, my last bottle, wine has everything, great color, good fruit, complex,balanced, good acid, wine has age but tastes vibrant, would drink again but won't find it, drank with ribs, wine has flavor to stand up to barbecue.

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  3/28/2015 - mwneil Likes this wine: 93 Points

  One of my all time favs, a great Syrah, medium bodied, spicy with good fruit but not grapey, have 1 more bottle, drank with barbecued ribs.

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  12/24/2014 - thesternowl Likes this wine: 94 Points

  Popped and poured. Deep, dark purple with some fine but obvious sediment. Rich aromas of grilled kefta and ripe brambles are intoxicating and I can't get enough of it. Brambles and leather on the palate. Tangy berries and espresso on the finish give it a nice zip. Great with Cincinnati chili. Outstanding. Wish I had more. Tasted alongside the 2004 Paras Vineyard and dominated it.

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