Lopez de Heredia, Rioja, Viña Bosconia, 1999
The lightest strawberry-cherry red with already fading orange highlights. Ben Gay® and faded sour cherry, winery floor aromas. Palate shows smooth polished mahogany wood, sour cherry, light spearmint and rancio falvors going into the finish. Better (fuller and less acidic) than the 1998, but I liked the 1996 of this even better. Still, very good, and an antidote to Eric Solomon's Spanish collection.
Quinta dos Roques, Dão, Touriga nacional, 2000
Deep, dark black fruit colored. Plummy mentholated spicy vanillin, blueberries. ripe plums, wood mulch, slight camphor. Very New Worldish with ripe fruit but carrying better acidity than something from that world. Would not buy again.
Edmunds St. John, Syrah 'The Shadow', California, 2002
Plum and cassia bark aromas. Has a nice combination of red & black fruits with syrah character. Nothing outstanding here, but, hey, varietal character at 12-bucks a pop cannot be bad. Since it comes with a cork made from cork, I'm going to put one away to see if it develops better with some age on it (suspect it will be better in a year or two).
Keo, Cyprus, 'Heritage', 2001
A dark maroonish red. An exotic nose of baklava mixture: cardamon, pistachio, and rose water. Has redcurrant pomice, cherry, leathery tannins, and a slight sweetness to the strapping finish. Reminiscent of a good aglianico. Unique, and would defintely revisit. Interesting to see how this would age.