Great Syrah. Black tar, with a hint of blueberry. Smokey nose, vanilla and tart cherry and a slight peppery linger. The tannins are well integrated. There is still life in this vintage.
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I wish that I had more of this. So much more integrated and smoothed out than when it was younger, still has strong fruit and power but it's more polished and restrained. Will go many more years if you have it. Dark and inky, fruit nose, maybe vanilla and spices, wonderful.
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A ripe but not overripe Syrah with plenty of chewy but smooth tannins; some underbrush and sweet Oak to go with the black fruits. Full mouthfeel. I'm just not wowed by this wine to give the kind of scores RP and IWC have.
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Still a huge and hefty wine (a little like the bottle itself). Dark fruits that have more density than sweetness, although still quite ripe. A tad too much Oak and alcohol, which took the score down a point for me. Tis is not a pop and pour at this point. Give it a couple hours and it will round out and more subtle sagebrush elements can be noted.
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Opening note was mostly the vanilla from the oak. Left open without decanting for two hours (with two glasses poured). By the two hour mark it was showing smooth blackberry fruit, a fu body, lenghty finish. Some dusty tannins in the very end. Overall experience was of a rich full bodied wine, not highly complex, but entertaining enough to spend a Friday evening contemplating its' charms. Left a glass for day 2, but the wine regressed, losing the fruit and returning the oak. Drink near term.
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Opaque purple ink. I actually held this against a 75 watt light bulb and saw no direct light coming through. Nose of black raspberry, dill/oak, pepper. Has some silkiness and strong acidity. Palate giving tart cherry, pepper, spice, a bit of leatheriness. Still strong alcohol and oak. 90-91
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A two hour decant moved it along somewhat but I believe another year in the cellar will be better for it. Did not quite reveal itself as much as I had hoped it too.
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Northern Italian Whites and then Syrahs - Controversy in the tasting Group: This is in a good place right now. It took the nose a bit of time to open up, but then very nice black raspberries. On the palate, more of a sour black cherry note. A bit of heat and tannins on the finish, although it got better with air. Still could use some cellaring, but drinking well now.
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A completely opposite experience. Opens fleshy and cotton-y tannic. Settles down after 60 minutes, but is never thin nor uninspiring. From this bottle, this wine needs 3 or 4 years.
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Deep opaque purple coloring. Black berry aromatics. Tastes of raspberry, blackberry and pepper with a deep earthiness in the tight mid palate core of fruit. Still quite primary. Very well balanced with refreshing acidity. Powerful fruit forward finish with some interesting depth of fruit. Needs time.
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Bottle #2 (this one) was much better than the flawed bottle #1 of 4 months ago. This bottle was rich and quite viscous. The nose is fine if indeterminate, but the mouth is nice. The fruit shows up in the form of (what I'd consider typical Thompson) dirt and olives, with some black cherries and a bit of plumminess. The structure, which was so present upon opening, seems to have almost deserted the wine now, at 90 monutes in, and though the wine seems a bit flabby, it's still barely on this side of balanced. The length is fine.
It doesn't strike me that this is a wine for aging, which is surprising given its pedigree. I'll be drinking this one before the 1998, the 1999, the 2000, the 2001, the 2002, and the 2003.
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Pruned out on the second day open. Bill says it smells like some sort of animal feed. It was massive and I don't think it ever fully opened. Leave for another year at least. After two days open it seems to be collapsing in upon itself.
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Almost black in color. Dark berry fruit on the nose. Tastes of blackberries, boysenberries, blueberries, leather and black pepper. Full bodied with refreshing acidity. Good balance. A massive wine that is currently shutdown tight but I can definitely see the future potential in this wine. 14.5% alcohol.
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At Zachy's for their weekly Saturday afternoon tasting. Maybe after a few years this will settle down, but there was much too much oak for me and that was the predominant flavor. It gave a sour, not a sweet vanilla, flavor, to the entire wine. There might be some fruit in there, but I c an't find it now. Maybe someone else could find it. Other people said they really liked it, but not me. I give this 85 pts only in deference to the others who liked it.
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1/17/2021 - edge Likes this wine: 91 Points
In its prime. Rich and complex. One of the better California Syrah’s I have ever had.
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4/13/2020 - Fowlers wrote:
Savoury and peppery - still lots of fleshy plum fruit even at 16 yrs old! Beautiful
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3/4/2016 - Grant_gib wrote: 92 Points
Great Syrah. Black tar, with a hint of blueberry. Smokey nose, vanilla and tart cherry and a slight peppery linger. The tannins are well integrated. There is still life in this vintage.
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2/21/2016 - scaredone Likes this wine: 96 Points
I wish that I had more of this. So much more integrated and smoothed out than when it was younger, still has strong fruit and power but it's more polished and restrained. Will go many more years if you have it. Dark and inky, fruit nose, maybe vanilla and spices, wonderful.
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1/2/2015 - mxpbuy Likes this wine: 90 Points
A ripe but not overripe Syrah with plenty of chewy but smooth tannins; some underbrush and sweet Oak to go with the black fruits. Full mouthfeel. I'm just not wowed by this wine to give the kind of scores RP and IWC have.
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10/30/2014 - mxpbuy Likes this wine: 91 Points
Still a huge and hefty wine (a little like the bottle itself). Dark fruits that have more density than sweetness, although still quite ripe. A tad too much Oak and alcohol, which took the score down a point for me. Tis is not a pop and pour at this point. Give it a couple hours and it will round out and more subtle sagebrush elements can be noted.
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7/12/2014 - G_H Likes this wine: 93 Points
Very nice central coast shiraz. Love the herbal notes. Nicely concentrated, retaining the elegance. Not yet hitting the peak of maturity
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6/12/2014 - lolo66 wrote:
quite chewy. tons of sediment. smoky, dense, acids helping. a bit of a bruiser.
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11/11/2013 - Blcmdpa@gmail.com wrote: 90 Points
In great shape. Nose has more smoke than l recall less fruit forward. Chewey and big, but BlackBerry and blueberry are becoming more muted.
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3/1/2013 - lockestep Likes this wine: 91 Points
Opening note was mostly the vanilla from the oak. Left open without decanting for two hours (with two glasses poured). By the two hour mark it was showing smooth blackberry fruit, a fu body, lenghty finish. Some dusty tannins in the very end. Overall experience was of a rich full bodied wine, not highly complex, but entertaining enough to spend a Friday evening contemplating its' charms.
Left a glass for day 2, but the wine regressed, losing the fruit and returning the oak. Drink near term.
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4/2/2012 - DPMc wrote: 94 Points
Excellent, silky, balanced with smoky black fruit. No signs of fading.
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2/6/2012 - Blcmdpa@gmail.com wrote: 91 Points
Good depth and fruit, leather chocolate mixed with great fruit blackberry and black cherry flavors. Lingering finish with some edge
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8/11/2011 - kstoddard Likes this wine: 90 Points
dark ruby color. Rasberry nose. Tastes of blackberry, leather, cherry, and earth. Nice freshness. Rich finish with sone depth of fruit. 14.5% alcohol.
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6/12/2011 - MindMuse wrote: 90 Points
Opaque purple ink. I actually held this against a 75 watt light bulb and saw no direct light coming through. Nose of black raspberry, dill/oak, pepper. Has some silkiness and strong acidity. Palate giving tart cherry, pepper, spice, a bit of leatheriness. Still strong alcohol and oak. 90-91
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11/28/2010 - Ben Christiansen wrote:
A two hour decant moved it along somewhat but I believe another year in the cellar will be better for it. Did not quite reveal itself as much as I had hoped it too.
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8/25/2010 - Loren Sonkin wrote: 91 Points
Northern Italian Whites and then Syrahs - Controversy in the tasting Group: This is in a good place right now. It took the nose a bit of time to open up, but then very nice black raspberries. On the palate, more of a sour black cherry note. A bit of heat and tannins on the finish, although it got better with air. Still could use some cellaring, but drinking well now.
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4/25/2010 - jrf wrote: 90 Points
Excellent! Very very smooth. Perhaps not as big in the mouth as other Syrah's, however very smooth and good with food.
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12/19/2009 - pgruber wrote: 93 Points
Wow. This has really come around. delicious.
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12/19/2009 - jrf wrote: 90 Points
Very nice - great syrah flavor without being overly heavy. Went well with salmon
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7/30/2009 - jbaron wrote: 91 Points
A completely opposite experience. Opens fleshy and cotton-y tannic. Settles down after 60 minutes, but is never thin nor uninspiring. From this bottle, this wine needs 3 or 4 years.
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5/31/2009 - kstoddard wrote: 90 Points
Deep opaque purple coloring. Black berry aromatics. Tastes of raspberry, blackberry and pepper with a deep earthiness in the tight mid palate core of fruit. Still quite primary. Very well balanced with refreshing acidity. Powerful fruit forward finish with some interesting depth of fruit. Needs time.
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2/15/2009 - jbaron wrote: 90 Points
Bottle #2 (this one) was much better than the flawed bottle #1 of 4 months ago. This bottle was rich and quite viscous. The nose is fine if indeterminate, but the mouth is nice. The fruit shows up in the form of (what I'd consider typical Thompson) dirt and olives, with some black cherries and a bit of plumminess. The structure, which was so present upon opening, seems to have almost deserted the wine now, at 90 monutes in, and though the wine seems a bit flabby, it's still barely on this side of balanced. The length is fine.
It doesn't strike me that this is a wine for aging, which is surprising given its pedigree. I'll be drinking this one before the 1998, the 1999, the 2000, the 2001, the 2002, and the 2003.
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11/3/2008 - Ben Christiansen wrote:
Pruned out on the second day open. Bill says it smells like some sort of animal feed. It was massive and I don't think it ever fully opened. Leave for another year at least. After two days open it seems to be collapsing in upon itself.
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10/30/2008 - jbaron wrote: flawed
I found this bottle to be thin and relatively uninspiring for the vineyard and producer. It was so atypical that I'm going to mark it as defective.
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7/5/2008 - kstoddard wrote: 91 Points
Almost black in color. Dark berry fruit on the nose. Tastes of blackberries, boysenberries, blueberries, leather and black pepper. Full bodied with refreshing acidity. Good balance. A massive wine that is currently shutdown tight but I can definitely see the future potential in this wine. 14.5% alcohol.
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3/9/2008 - pgruber wrote: 88 Points
Way early. Much better on day 2. Give it 3 years.
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3/8/2008 - Jay Hack wrote: 85 Points
At Zachy's for their weekly Saturday afternoon tasting. Maybe after a few years this will settle down, but there was much too much oak for me and that was the predominant flavor. It gave a sour, not a sweet vanilla, flavor, to the entire wine. There might be some fruit in there, but I c an't find it now. Maybe someone else could find it. Other people said they really liked it, but not me. I give this 85 pts only in deference to the others who liked it.
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