Dark ruby red color, again with a bit of bricking, but not much noticeable aging since the last bottle. Nose of mixed spice, maybe a cinnamon sort of thing, black cherry/berry. Tannin still present, but in a good, structured way. Palate matches the nose, with a black cherry jam, herb, tobacco, and mineral components. I am still astonished that this wine is this good - I've got three more left - will drink one a year or so and track the progression. Wish I knew if this was an outlier for them or if it is what they typically do. Will slide one in next spring at a bordeaux tasting and see how it fares, but it works for me!
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Nice. Deep, dark purple - looks like a 2004 in the glass. Impenatrable by light. Nose of dark berries and smoke. On the palate, very nice. Tannins still obvious, gripping, but very fine, almost sweet. Mix of black fruits and a spicy palate that carries through on the long finish. Over the next couple of hours, this opened up quite a bit, with more fruit coming through, shifting from blackberries to maybe a currant or black cherry sort of thing. Tannins tightened up a bit, but again, not in an unpleasant way. Though I've not entered the notes on them all, I've been going through one of these every 6 months or so for the last few years, and they are continuing an upward trajectory. This still has at least a few more, maybe more, years before it is at its peak.
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Dark ruby red, bodering on purple. Almost no fading on the rim. Looks very young. Nose of mineral, smoke, vanilla. Limited fruit on the nose initially. On the palate, dark fruit initially, maybe cassis or blackberry, all framed with a decent amount of tannin. As it opens up, the nose reveals fruit, black cherry, more smoke/oak. This is better than I'd expected. If drinking in the next few years, will need to decant. This has a long future, and I expect that it will improve in to the low 90's if the tannins resolve - there is plenty of fruit here, just hiding right now.
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1995 Yarra Yering Dry Red N°1
9/7/2006 - Renee & Robert wrote: 93 Points
Dark ruby red color, again with a bit of bricking, but not much noticeable aging since the last bottle. Nose of mixed spice, maybe a cinnamon sort of thing, black cherry/berry. Tannin still present, but in a good, structured way. Palate matches the nose, with a black cherry jam, herb, tobacco, and mineral components. I am still astonished that this wine is this good - I've got three more left - will drink one a year or so and track the progression. Wish I knew if this was an outlier for them or if it is what they typically do. Will slide one in next spring at a bordeaux tasting and see how it fares, but it works for me!
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1997 Ojai Syrah Roll Ranch Vineyard
9/7/2006 - Renee & Robert wrote: 90 Points
Nice. Deep, dark purple - looks like a 2004 in the glass. Impenatrable by light. Nose of dark berries and smoke. On the palate, very nice. Tannins still obvious, gripping, but very fine, almost sweet. Mix of black fruits and a spicy palate that carries through on the long finish. Over the next couple of hours, this opened up quite a bit, with more fruit coming through, shifting from blackberries to maybe a currant or black cherry sort of thing. Tannins tightened up a bit, but again, not in an unpleasant way. Though I've not entered the notes on them all, I've been going through one of these every 6 months or so for the last few years, and they are continuing an upward trajectory. This still has at least a few more, maybe more, years before it is at its peak.
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1995 Château Batailley
11/6/2005 - Renee & Robert wrote: 88 Points
Dark ruby red, bodering on purple. Almost no fading on the rim. Looks very young. Nose of mineral, smoke, vanilla. Limited fruit on the nose initially. On the palate, dark fruit initially, maybe cassis or blackberry, all framed with a decent amount of tannin. As it opens up, the nose reveals fruit, black cherry, more smoke/oak. This is better than I'd expected. If drinking in the next few years, will need to decant. This has a long future, and I expect that it will improve in to the low 90's if the tannins resolve - there is plenty of fruit here, just hiding right now.
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