Community Tasting Notes 14

• Tim Heaton Likes this wine:

  February 21, 2024 - Slow-O 2 hours, superb showing. A fair amount of sediment, as expected; good fill/cork. My final bottle, sadly, and this continues to show at a superb level. Full bodied with an elegant entry, full middle and long finish. Highly perfumed and graceful from first to last glass. Pure joy. There's still a good number of years ahead for those that have cellared this carefully. highly recommended

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• lockestep Likes this wine: 90 points

  December 3, 2022 - Served with braised lamb shanks, as well as the 2015 Roll Ranch. The '96 started off with a live nose but an astringent palate. The wine opened up within ten minutes and morphed into a classic, mostly tertiary Syrah. This was not displaying any barnyard notes - more earth than funk here. Medium to long finish.

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• Barry Notes Likes this wine: 95 points

  March 31, 2022 - PnP, tasted over the course of 2 hours, served blind. Clear, light purple/red color, very slight brown edge on rim, medium legs. Initially, muted nose which blossomed into moderate intensity. Tim always serves blind and I'm to guess. Often, it's a "stump the band" bottle as he has such a huge inventory of unusual, interesting wines. With some hints he gives me, I always seem to end up second guessing myself. At first taste upon opening, the wine drank wonderfully but very neutral. I thought old (15-20 years) but no significant up front funk. Guessed Grenache or Syrah but could have been Pinot or Italian. The taste was neural as well, meaning no clear trait of grape type. The wine changed rather dramatically over time from light and reserved to med body/flavor intensity with a still presence of acidity and fine tannins. I don't know if there is a better balanced, integrated bottle out there. Absolutely no edges, this drank clean, red with a touch of black fruit, loaded with wonderful tartness and finesse with a finish that just did not end. Elegant and technically incredibly perfect. He asked if I noted any steak drippings and pepper, I did sense that a bit but his palate is way beyond mine. My final guess was Aussie, southern France or Italy but I was clearly unsure. When he revealed the label I was floored. Never in a million years would I have thought Santa Barbara CA as it was definitely old world in style. Most Syrah's I drink are huge, full throttle, monster fruit bombs. However, very old wines such as this are very difficult for me to identify as the typical varietal traits we are used to change so dramatically. Tim said from the get-go this might be the best bottle I drink all year. I can't really argue that. The bottle was perfect and although you could hold for years yet, I can't imagine a better drinking window. This winemaker knew what he was doing. My thanks to my good friend for the opportunity as he knows I love old wine and is willing to share. My highest rating is 95 points and that's what I score this.

  1 person found this helpful Comment

• RBoomer Likes this wine:

  July 30, 2021 - Beautiful Syrah. Lovely fruit. Delicious, well balanced and gone way too quickly. There was a lot of sediment.

  Comment

• robmatic wrote: 95 points

  January 25, 2018 - Probably the best new world syrah I've ever had. To be honest, my expectations were not very high, but I was blown away by the depth of this wine. From the first sip, I knew it was something special, and wasn't quite sure that I could believe my own senses. Surely at its peak of maturity now, it combines solid acidity, lush fruit, and just the right amount of tannin to provide firm structure without any hint of harshness or hardness. The mid-palate is broad, full, and succulent, while the finish is long and sweet. The alcohol is wonderfully subdued, in stark contrast to many of the over ripe monstrosities being made now. Overall this is just scintillating juice. Drink.

  1 person found this helpful Comment

Pro Reviews 1

Wine Definition

• Vintage 1996
• Type Red
• Producer Ojai
• Varietal Syrah
• Designation n/a
• Vineyard Roll Ranch Vineyard
• Country USA
• Region California
• SubRegion South Coast
• Appellation Ventura County

Community Holdings

• Pending Delivery 0 (0%)
• In Cellars 42 (43%)
• Consumed 55 (57%)

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