10/23/2011 - AlexRed wrote:

simply a joy. took to a friends house for dinner and it showed extremely well. decanted for about 40 minute

6/19/2011 - AlexRed wrote:

dark ruby with only very slight bricking on edges,
nose of ceder and thyme and smelled tart at the beginning
a little dusty and very enjoyable, earth/ceder and medium tart cherry that rounded out wonderfully with some time in the glass. nice acid focus but still had enough body to come back around to silky.
medium to medium long finish

Very enjoyable

8/15/2010 - AlexRed wrote:

nice surprise. wasn't expecting such a nice bottle.not as large as i expected. quite enjoyab;e

8/2/2010 - AlexRed wrote:

dark, rich, caramel, very good. same honeyed popcorn as before by more mature/ a little more subtle. consumed over half a day. drank half and put a cork back in and finished a few hours later.

5/8/2010 - AlexRed wrote:

Fantastic. had at a gathering at a friends house. honey and orange rind. didn't find anything cloying, in fact the acid attack with the big honey flavor was great. everything faded perfectly in sync for me. could have had it all night... topped the 05 Mr. K we had next to it.

9/28/2009 - AlexRed wrote:

had last night with rib roast. fantastic. a little smokey, but rich wtih blueberry, blackberry, and violets.

7/19/2009 - AlexRed wrote:

nice. big and yet still refreshing. little cranberry in profile. but magically the cranberry has a lot of weight.

4/29/2009 - AlexRed wrote:

Much better than the alst bottle.

plum and dark fruit with a little raspberry toward the end. a thick mouthfeel offset by striking acid. the alchohol was noticable but not distracting. not your classic "big" pinot, but definitely not to everyones taste.

4/25/2009 - AlexRed wrote:

wonderful. bright with raspberry, cherry and earth.

4/26/2009 - AlexRed wrote:

very tasty. lemon curd and tropical fruit. not as cloying as some auberts have been in the past. the heat wasn't very notiable but boy does it pack a punch. beautiful on a hot afternoon.

4/20/2009 - AlexRed wrote:

Fantastic. blueberry and purple flower nose.
Nice and creamy mouthfeel with blueberries, leather, lavender and herbs.

awesome...

4/20/2009 - AlexRed wrote:

very tasty. nose of lemon citrus, no heavy oak presence that Jeff found (although all WS chards i have had younger exhibit tons of oak). little bit of pineapple and lemon on the palate with a medium to medium long finish with moderate acidity that produced a much more subtle experience than i was expecting.

4/2/2009 - AlexRed wrote:

tasted like flat champagne, in a good way... definitely on the mature side, with a darker hue to the rich yellow int he glass.
slight notes of butterscotch and mushrooms with a tinge of lemony honey. Nice

4/9/2009 - AlexRed wrote:

Took to a neighborhood party and it was enjoyed by all..., strike that, by many. someone bogarted it halfway through the bottle and we found it empty on the other side of the room behind a chair...

rather big and a little bit of heat. but still had the cherry and spice but with a little bit too much viscousity.

4/1/2009 - AlexRed wrote:

This was much sweeter than i expected. I have enjoyed previous vintages much more than this... A little smokey at first but then jammy and candied.

3/31/2009 - AlexRed wrote:

nice dark and juicy berries over leather with some dry herbs thrown in. tasty on day one but as good or better on day 3 with more dry herb and dried white flower notes, maybe dried on leather with lush but not too sweet fruit.

3/12/2009 - AlexRed wrote:

light pommegranite and cranberry with a minerality like iron (although pleasent). Liike and pleasing with a fennel type note that drifted in and out from attack to finish. short to med finish.

3/14/2009 - AlexRed wrote:

good. but a little cloying and very lemony, didn't get the minerality with this bottle.
usually McCrea is one of my favorites...

as i looked at my inventory to mark this it is hard to ignore the price hike. this was 60 and the 2004 was 60. the 2005 was 70 and the 06 was 75. these were fun to buy at 60. not so much at 75.

3/9/2009 - AlexRed wrote:

a little tired. more dust and dry leather. Still good but the fruit was fading. not as good as the last bottle.

2/22/2009 - AlexRed wrote:

same as other bottle open tonight

2/22/2009 - AlexRed wrote:

This is showing quite well. much smoother at a young age than some previous years. nice sweet pencil lead and leather over some purple fruit. slight blueberry, slightly dusty.

2/11/2009 - AlexRed wrote:

very nice.

Nice animale nature to it. peppery but not really spicy. rustic and wonderful.

2/7/2009 - AlexRed wrote:

Took to dinner with some friends so no real notes.

this was very good. but it didn't knock anyone's socks off.

2/11/2009 - AlexRed wrote:

Very good. Right in my sweet spot as far as age.

Leather, black cherries, and dried thyme/herbs and olives. slightly dusty tannins on entry but the wine remains juicy through the finish.

1/13/2009 - AlexRed wrote:

iodine and tart fruit, under that a dark dried purple fruit with thyme and a little dusty.

12/20/2008 - AlexRed wrote:

awesome
Sherry notes, nuts, mushroom, honey and ginger. the whole package.

12/31/2008 - AlexRed wrote:

A little on the cloying side. Very good but cumbersome.

12/31/2008 - AlexRed wrote:

Damned tasty on NYE

12/27/2008 - AlexRed wrote:

awesome. reminds me of Joseph swan zins... and that is a very good thing imo. that "weak coffee" comment below coupled with the raspberries and light plum can be very tasty. almost has 10 year old cab like tannins/earthiness.

12/28/2008 - AlexRed wrote:

nice black cherry, pomegranate and spice with a nice acidity that makes this a big friend of food. Held up for 4+ days after being recorked and was better for the rest.

12/27/2008 - AlexRed wrote:

deep dark and awesome. no over the top aussie here. deep on flavor while maintaining a much lighter mouthfeel than one would anticipate from the color, nose and complexity. minerality and acid keep up with the leather, blueberry and smoke. a joy to drink. the type of glass where you stick your nose in and say "whoa!" and your eyes widen in anticipation.

12/24/2008 - AlexRed wrote:

initially didn't show much at all but some oak and a tinsy bit of citrus....but after a few hours it developed a honeyed popcorn and ctirus hard-candy type of flavor which we really enjoyed.

12/19/2008 - AlexRed wrote:

a little one deminsional until it got some air (30-45 minutes) and then it blossomed and showed spice and blue fruit and had a very nice finish.

12/11/2008 - AlexRed wrote:

bright, with pomegranate and cherry. lots of acid. day 2 it blossomed and was great with some cinnamon showing up and more cherry flavors although still showing a nice tight acid profile. excellent and a nice change from the "big cali pinots".

12/5/2008 - AlexRed wrote:

Like Budman said, peaches and pears. a nice lift to it and some striking acidity on the finish. At one stage there was almost a lychee note prompting one comment was that it was almost like a flat champagne (in a good way).

12/8/2008 - AlexRed wrote:

very funky upon opening. decanter for about 30 minutes and most of the funk blew off.

no formal notes. a good to very good wine but nothing great and i was hoping for more so it was a bit of a let down.

11/27/2008 - AlexRed wrote:

Big and chocked full of flavor and weight. oily yet tender, melon and tropical under the big heavy veneer of light smoke and a mouthfeel that left you feel like you were digging through it finding new stuff as long as you could concentrate.
enjoyed it before dinner. not a crowd pleaser, not your run of the mill "oh this is great". a lot to think about with this. 2 glasses left in decanter in the fridge was still unfolding 24 hours later.

11/18/2008 - AlexRed wrote:

whoa! pepper! pepper and more pepper. strawberries and cherry with cinnamon spice and pepper. brownish garnet color with a light mouthfeel. light and bright with.... pepper!

11/16/2008 - AlexRed wrote:

day one the nose was of cherry and pommegranate, but it was pretty tight in the mouth. there wasn't much weight either.

day 2 there was the distinct nose of strawberry jam with a little pepper spice. the palate showed cherry, strawberry and pommegranate and a little kick of asian spice. Improved significantly. The body was still on the light side but there was far more going on flavor-wise from day 1. Very enjoyable.

10/7/2008 - AlexRed wrote:

a little tired, a little oxidized, still tasty but some flavors present that suggest storage may not have been the best. Last bottle i had showed that there was plenty of time left for this wine.

10/4/2008 - AlexRed wrote:

didnt' decant. a little heat and also some sweetness. little bit of spice as well but just not showing as well as i had hoped with a hour or so of air. wouldn't have pegged it as anything special blind. toward the end of dinner the server poured a little bit of another bottle (a Grenache) into mine and another persons pinot. i didn't catch it on hers but i was a little too slow with my "No no no noo". luckily there was only a tad left. they offered us 1 dessert as compensation and charged us for the one coffee our table had.

9/27/2008 - AlexRed wrote:

Corked! bummer.

9/18/2008 - AlexRed wrote:

fantastic. this bottle was not over the hill at all. I thought it might be flatish and OTH at first taste but then the flavor kicked in. it was packed with flavor. the mellowness of a wine with some age on it, almost pinot-like in appearance and delicate mouthfeel, but still had all the zin flavor of spice and sweet fruit, fig and strawberries. definitely drink up , but very tasty.

9/24/2008 - AlexRed wrote:

this was tight on day 1 and the acidity was prominent and cut the fruit flavors a little too much imo, fruit present was nice raspberries, red cherry with cola. Day 2 it was better for me, it fleshed out gaining a much smoother mouthfeel and more seamless trip from attack to finish. same flavors but with a fuller presense.

9/20/2008 - AlexRed wrote:

very nice...
spice and fruit flavors creating a fantastic accompaniment to my veal AND my wifes tuna. with SQN the mouthfeel just takes it to another level for me. The long finish just gives you the opportunity to find more flavors... plum, fig, raspberry, grilled fruit.

9/4/2008 - AlexRed wrote:

poured this in to my glass and tasted it. i thought to myself this "syrah" tastes like a pinot. went and rechecked the bottle turns out i had poured the pinot instead of the similar shaped [bottle] syrah.

similar to my previous note of spicy raspberry and pomegranate fruit but also showing some earthy depth. enjoyed. not as good as last time but admittedly i was intending to open a syrah so maybe i was just disappointed.

9/5/2008 - AlexRed wrote:

decanted for about 20 minutes and consumed over 90 minutes.
red cherries and a little red dusty character and very light touches of dried herb. not so far as a rutherford dust type taste, but more so than i have had in a long time. much lighter than i expected, no deep brooding Neal trademark. the cherries notes lingered through a medium finish.

9/5/2008 - AlexRed wrote:

from 375
this showed nice dark fruit and earth elements with a brownie like chewy tannin structure. very tasty.

8/26/2008 - AlexRed wrote:

opened this on saturday night and it was way too tight to enjoy. vaccuvined it and put it in the cellar. had a few glasses last night (tuesday night) and it was fantastic!
slight blueberry fruit on the nose and it comes through in the mouth but that is not all, oh no..., olives, herbs, leather, earth, silky mouthfeel with medium finish.
This is cool climate... love these bennet valley syrahs. very nice job. a lot more olive and herb notes than carlisle BV Syrah but similar density of fruit flavor.

wonderful. bummed this was my only bottle. what was i thinking opening this so early??

8/25/2008 - AlexRed wrote:

opened on Saturday about 7:30pm and decanted. about 2 hours later it was still hard as nails and not pleasant to drink. tar, leather, dirt.
left in cellar overnight in decanter. the next day i poured it back into the bottle corked it and put it in the fridge. tried it a day later, much better.

tar, leather and finally some fruit. a little wiff of roses and violets and really dark earthy fruit. had a glass each of the following 2 days and it got better each night.
forget about these for 5 more years.