July 31, 2022 - PnP, consumed over 3 hours. Appearance: Clear, medium purple with just a slight hint of bricking. Nose: Clean, medium intensity with developed aromas of ripe strawberry, black raspberry, shoe polish, tobacco, and leather with noticeable alcohol. Palate: Dry, medium acid and tannin, full body, high alcohol - 15.8% abv, medium intensity with flavors of dried dark red fruit, tobacco, and leather with readily apparent heat from the high alcohol and a medium length finish. Hard to get past the alcohol at this point with this wine as it dominates the nose and the palate. Bought two bottles upon release and consumed the first 9 years ago. It appears the years haven't been kind, most of the stuffing is gone but all the alcohol is still there. Some may yet enjoy this, not my cup of tea.
August 29, 2019 - Drinking very well, dark red fruit, a bit meaty, some pepper/spice/oak. Integrated medium+ acid/tannins. Very well made enjoyable Paso syrah.
February 20, 2019 - Drinking well after a short decant. Big, bold, and darkly fruited but with a beautiful sense of restraint, within the context of the appellation. A great bottle of Paso syrah strutting at its peak.
March 26, 2018 - Popped and poured. Dark, inky purple color. Intensely ripe nose of blueberry pie, black currant, black licorice, vanilla, caramel and charred oak. Heat definitely comes through on the nose as well. Mostly jammy black and blue fruit, chocolate and oak dominate the palate with a slightly hot finish. Not enough acid to carry all the fruit and oak so the wine drinks a bit flabby. Not sure about all of these extremely high scores. I can see lovers of big, ripe, Cali fruit bomb syrahs digging this but it misses the mark for me.
January 5, 2018 - Even better than the last bottle. In a great place right now, but has years of life left. Dare I say that this wine has become the true standard for me when it comes to Central Coast Syrah?
November 10, 2017 - Fantastic Syrah! I have just discovered Nicora in the last couple of years and based on what I have tasted and drunk have been buying as much of it as I an afford. This 2010 Buxom has confirmed for me that my recent purchases were well informed. This wine has all that you might want from some of the heavy hitter Rhone producers in Paso - and more.
October 14, 2017 - Wow, one of the best wines I've tried from Nick Elliott. Big bold wine here, mostly Syrah. Ripe, blackberry, black raspberry, and blueberry fruit, full-throttled. Wonderful and meaty mid-palate of dark chocolate, tobacco, and bacon fat, very savory. Definitely a 'hot' wine from the alcohol but it blows off over time. Firm structure and finishes with a great long finish.
March 9, 2017 - Those of you who read my notes will know that my Syrah palate is firmly planted in the Northern Rhone. This wine was about as far from a Cornas or Cote Rotie as it is possible for a Syrah to be, and yet it was an outstanding wine. It presents itself as a juicy, chocolaty, firm, high-octane West-Coast Syrah, with nary a hint of beef blood, Brett, or funk. But it is not spoofed or unbalanced. It is a clear, well-defined example of a Paso Syrah made by a competent, confident California winemaker. I cannot recall a better Syrah in this particular interpretation, that I have tasted.
It's in a good window now. If you have one of these, drink it soon.
February 15, 2016 - 15.8% ABV, 95% Syrah, 5% Grenache, fruit from La Vista Vineyard (Western Paso Robles AVA). 98 cases produced
Tasting great now. Might peak in 2017. I would use a decanter to open it up.
January 24, 2016 - Very Tastey yum