BBQ #2 of season

Small group got together to drink some syrah with some BBQ'ed pork belly, creamed corn, tomato salad.

• 2011 Wind Gap Wines Syrah Sonoma Coast 90 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

  reddish rim, moderate depth of color. aromatically lots of green pepper aromas (really Cornas like), red fruits, no new oak. on the palate very high acidity (a bit pitchy on the front), moderate midpalate weight, a moderate amount of firm, moderately ripe tannins, low to moderate alcohol. balanced wine with ok length, very good intensity and complexity. wine has good finesse, a fine texture, hard to judge it’s expression of place as I don’t think it fits into any region really well... the next day the wine held up quite well but didn’t really develop a lot. i liked the style of this wine (and the wine itself) quite a bit. at the price i’m not sure how much QPR you get here (why not go to cornas or crozes at this price)??? Excellent wine that'll generate some good discussion.

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• 2007 Wind Gap Wines Syrah Griffin's Lair 87 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

  reddish blue rim, very deep color. aromatically lots of dark (mineral tinged) fruits, tar and olive, maybe a hint of new oak spice. on the palate the wine has high acidity, a very lush midpalate, loats of very coarse tannins that are ripe, moderate to high alcohol. wine is balanced, has good length, very good intensity and complexity. not really a wine of finesse, the texture is very rough from the tannins, good expression of place. the next day the wine’s texture had softened a bit but the flavors had muddled. good to very good wine... i would drink this up as i think the flavors will continue to muddle as the tannins resolve, which will take a long time.

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• 2011 Stéphane Ogier Syrah d'Ogier 85 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Collines Rhodaniennes

  purple rim, deeply colored. aromatically the most muted wine of the 4 with red and dark fruits, some tar, some olive, no new oak. on the palate the wine had high acidity, a chunky, slightly rustic midpalate of moderate weight, firm and moderately ripe tannins, moderate alcohol. the wine held up well the next day but was still a little rustic or rough. balanced wine with average length and intensity, not a lot of complexity. wine has decent finesse, a fine texture, good expression of place. this wine has tasted better to me in the past... maybe it just was outmatched by the other 3 wines today.

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• 2008 Domaine Faury Côte-Rôtie 91 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  my tasting note was identical. the next day this wine softened a bit and retained all of the finesse and fineness of texture. this wine clearly outclassed the other 3 both when first opened and even more so the next day. the wine had such clearly detailed/delineated flavors, such a fine texture, such good balance in comparison. clearly a location factor... good tasting to start a discussion of what exactly about place (macroclimate, microclimate, soil, etc) makes better wines better.

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This tasting brought up a lot of questions to me... what makes some locations better than others, what are the relative merits of the different styles of Callifornia syrah, what is the expression of cool climate style of wine made from grapes grown in a warmer than cool climate climate... etc. Fun times :)