EWG Does Syrahs Blind From Around The World

Conrad Greens Abode
Tasted Sunday, February 15, 2009 by WetRock with 736 views

Introduction

Conrad hosted us for a night of bagged Syrah from around the world. He not only hosted but cooked a terrific meal for us of braised short ribs with some fried potatoes and spinach along with some terrific bread and desserts. David brought along some excellent cheeses to get us going as well.

Theme was Syrah from around the world in bags. We got a wide variety of wines, far greater than I expected but that was probably Conrad's work behind the scenes juggling options amongst us. Well done. If anything I wished there was more variety from Australia and California for comparison to the Older World contingent but the overall variety tasted blind made for a wide array of expressions.

Most all of the wines were good or much better. WOTN for me would be the 1999 Clape Cornas which even though clearly young and tight seems gave great balance and terrific mineral expression. With more age I can really see the complexity taking off. Was glad to try the Lillian also as I have been staring at a bottle to opne for some time but I felt let down by its rather indistinct expression though for the style it is well made. Terrific lineup over all though and was glad to try them all the way we did. Plenty of surprises on reveals. Thanks everyone. Looking forward to the next round up.

Flight 1 (3 Notes)

The Lillian and Rostaing were easy to guess the region for me. The Sandoval had me guessing between Australia and California.

  • 2002 Finca Sandoval Manchuela

    Spain, Castilla-La Mancha, Manchuela

    Bright juicy nose with some eucalyptus notes and a bit of heat. Nicely balanced showing good acids and plenty of fruit concentration. Bright and tannic. Tough to place as the eucalyptus made me lean to Aussie but the palate seemed Cali to me. A very nice wine.

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  • 2005 Lillian Winery Syrah

    USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County

    Soft nose exhibiting ripe berries and vanilla type oaky notes. Big and broad with very good length. Bit of a bite on the end. Straight forward and well made for the style but not much distinctive about it. Clearly from California.

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  • 2003 Rene Rostaing Côte-Rôtie Cuvée Classique

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

    Reduction and green stem notes greet. Tight lean palate again showing rubbery reduction and veggie stem notes. Crying for sleep and clearly from France.

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Flight 2 (3 Notes)

Again the 3rd wine was clearly France but the overt pepper on #2 made it hard to place. The fruit on #1 made it seem New World but the style was a toughy.

  • 2000 Edmunds St. John Syrah Wylie-Fenaughty

    USA, California, Sierra Foothills, El Dorado County

    Bright tart nose with a touch of mint. This seemed tight and closed to me. Plenty of tannin. Tough to identify this one.

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  • 2007 Adelsheim Syrah

    USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

    Bit stinky but eventually dominated by pure freshly cracked black pepper. Lean yet juicy feeling and lengthy palate with late acting tannins. Shows some minerality and a touch of stem inclusion. Very interesting good wine and a nice surprise from Oregon. Guesses new world but nailing it down was tough.

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  • 2000 E. Guigal Hermitage

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

    Nose sows slight oxidation and green grape skins. Balanced feel with a big finish. Unsure if it was closed or just an early drinker but clearly from France.

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Flight 3 (3 Notes)

Yet again #3 was clearly France...but Conrad claims the wines were random. I've ha that Grange before but this time I was thrown by it. Guesses Cali on #1.

  • 2005 Bunnell Family Cellars Syrah Boushey-McPherson Vineyards

    USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Yakima Valley

    Complex nose giving up alternately rubber reduction, pepper and soft sweet oak. Tart and juicy palate lacking in some concentration of fruit. New worldy but didn't speak of California for some reason.

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  • 1996 Penfolds Grange

    Australia, South Australia

    Very ripe notes of stewed tomatoes with some menthol and pepper adding complexity. Thick extracted and tannic with an iron quality this drops off towards the finish. I've had this before but was unfamiliar to me. Leaned toward Aussie but no real guess.

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  • 1999 Domaine Auguste Clape Cornas

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas

    Nose is light in expression with some greenish notes and very rocky quality. Balanced palate with terrific stone qualities and still strong tannins. If anything this seems tight and in need of more time. Clearly French and my WOTN. Excellent.

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Flight 4 (3 Notes)

This flight was very interesting with lots of different complexities and secondary notes thrown about. Touch to really place any of them though I knew my wine of course.

  • 1998 Penfolds Shiraz RWT

    Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley

    Pretty nose showing violets, boysenberries and sweet white flowers. Attractive juicy palate showing good concentration and nice lava rocks. Very good interesting wine and tough call on region.

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  • 2006 Copain Syrah Harrison Clarke

    USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley

    Opened but not decanted about 10 hours prior to consumption. Stems and reduction typical to Copain over some dark berries. Tight and tannic but showing some complexity. Bit of sweetness and reduction. Needs more time.

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  • 1998 Château de la Négly Coteaux du Languedoc La Clape Porte du Ciel

    France, Languedoc Roussillon, Languedoc, Coteaux du Languedoc La Clape

    Nose is a bit flat giving up some grape skin type notes. Lots of fruit here still with a big round midpalate sprinkled with some pleasing pepper notes. This probably still has its best days ahead of it but is an impressive wine from a region that often gets ignored.

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Flight 5 (2 Notes)

A very New Worldy styled wine from Italy even with a few years in bottle.

Flight 6 (5 Notes)

Never expected to see all these dessert wines show up. Loved the Beernauslese and the Kracher was very good as well. The ZH was well liked by the group but it seemed to lack focus and interest for me thought I wanted to like it.

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