2007 Arcadian Syrah Westerly Vineyard

Community Tasting Notes (22) Avg Score: 89.8 points

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  4/8/2022 - forceberry wrote: 90 Points

  Made with purchased fruit sourced from the Westerly Vineyard, planted in 1996 to Syrah clones 174, 383 and 877. 14,5% alcohol.
  
  Dark, very slightly translucent pomegranate with an evolved maroon hue and a pale dried-blood rim. The nose feels dark-toned, somewhat meaty and slightly spicy with aromas of German wurst and oregano-driven herby notes, some roasted game tones, a little bit of sunny blackberry-driven dark fruit, light peppery tones, a hint of licorice, a touch of bay leaf and other dried herbs and a whiff of smoke. The wine is ripe, textural and slightly sweet-toned on the palate with a full body and quite juicy flavors of ripe dark berries, some meaty sausage tones, a little bit of peppery spice, light savory umami notes of MSG, a hint of olive tapenade and a touch of smoke. Despite its quite ripe and sunny feel, the overall taste is quite dry and the wine is enjoyably firm and structured, thanks to its high acidity and moderately grippy medium tannins. The finish is ripe, somewhat sweet-toned and moderately grippy with long, juicy flavors of blackcurrant juice, some roasted gamey tones, a little bit of plummy dark fruit, light savory notes of meaty umami, a hint of olive and a touch of peppery spice.
  
  Arcadian is often said to be very "old world" stylistically, but to me, this didn't come across particularly similar to classic Syrah wines of Northern Rhône, due to its somewhat bigger, sunnier and more substantial overall feel. Nevertheless, this wasn't similar to the monolithic Australian Shiraz wines either - despite its ripeness this wine showed good sense of restraint, finesse and balance. The aromatics were still more "Syrah" rather than "Shiraz" and very true to the variety with the nuances of blackberries, olives and black pepper. Even if this couldn't pass for a Northern Rhône Syrah, this is definitely a classicist's new world Syrah. Based on this bottling, the quality of Arcadian Syrah doesn't match that of Arcadian Pinot Noirs, but it's nevertheless very good. At 24,90€, this wine showed pretty terrific value.

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  1/24/2021 - wtianseter wrote: 89 Points

  Finally, this wine is beginning to loosen up. Still has a way to go but the heavy darkness that has been in the wine is now beginning to mellow. Now I think it will continue to develop and mellow. Maybe in another 3-5 years in bottle it will reach its peak.

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  8/4/2020 - jnewman77 wrote:

  I've had several Arcadian pinots in the past and found them to be enjoyable; this syrah however I didn't particularly love. It wasn't bad, but not really my style. The nose had some dark fruits, followed by significant smoky and tarry notes. The smokiness followed through to the palate and seemed to overwhelm things a bit for me. Maybe an off bottle, but definitely not that great.

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  1/6/2020 - BerkeleyBoy Likes this wine: 91 Points

  I really liked this wine. It's been in my cellar for about 5 years, largely ignored and I wanted something different to go with Loretta's spaghetti and chickpea with spinach and rosemary dinner (sounds weird, but very tasty).
  PnP and it was tight; felt my jaws tighten up painfully so I let it sit on the counter until dinner was ready and it truly opened up; not tight, no jaw pain. Very berryish and one dimensional, but still delicious after all these years. I still have one left in the cellar and it fells like I could let this one go another five years. Don't think it will improve, but in my opinion, it won't go bad.
  
  Cheers, everyone!
  
  https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020529-creamy-chickpea-pasta-with-spinach-and-rosemary?te=1&nl=cooking&emc=edit_ck_20191019?campaign_id=58&instance_id=13214&segment_id=18061&user_id=178c6716dd9e8682c4a65971ce439fb8&regi_id=6194098920191019

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  12/16/2018 - wtianseter wrote: 87 Points

  Big fruit but rather monolithic. I enjoyed it over two days but third day it had fallen apart. I was expecting more at this point. It has some life left for five or more years if properly stored.

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