2008 Alban Vineyards Syrah Reva Alban Estate Vineyard

Community Tasting Note

Fugu Me wrote:

Saturday, August 7, 2021 - Oak, oak, and more oak. After decanting (lots of sediment!) and allowing to breathe for a couple of hours prior to serving, the predominant note on this, both the nose and palate, was, well, oak. Lurking beneath were big, jammy luscious berried fruits, but it was hard to get beyond the initial onslaught of oak.

Saved half of the bottle for night 2 and will update the note if things have shifted overnight. Fingers crossed.

Update after night 2: the oak notes receded somewhat but still dominated the wine. It's a shame, as it was more apparent on the second day that there were some gorgeous things going on beneath, but we just couldn't get past the barrier. Not sure if this was somehow an off bottle, as others' notes here suggest it should be lovely, but for us, this weekend, it was not.

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Comment posted by WineGuyDelMar:

8/9/2021 4:56:00 PM - Funny note. Besides oak I find the Alban Syrahs pretty heavy handed. I much prefer Eisele Estate Syrahs that have more finesse and nuances vs powerful. Same price point.
Comment posted by Fugu Me:

8/9/2021 5:37:00 PM - Yeah, even after being open overnight, while the oak had receded somewhat, it was still the dominating influence. It's unfortunate, as you can tell there's all sorts of good things underneath. Based on others' notes here, I don't know if this was a bad bottle, or maybe I just don't "get" the wine, but I've had earlier vintages of Alban that were lovely, so I know they're able to produce gorgeous wines.
Comment posted by WineGuyDelMar:

8/9/2021 6:51:00 PM - Just noticed I left two notes on this wine. LOL. Both 95 points. There was oak but it wasn’t overly dominant. Still like Eisele more.
Comment posted by Fugu Me:

8/13/2021 3:51:00 PM - My experience may prove the axiom, "There are no great wines, only great bottles!"