I served this wine (en magnum) Tues night to a group at an auction tasting:
1. Qupe Syrah HillsideEstate BienNacidoVnyd/SantaBarbaraCnty (13.8%) 1995: Dark color w/ no bricking; beautiful perfumed/aromatic smokey/pungent/Fr.roast coffee/roasted some blackberry/Syrah/black olive tapenade rather Rhonish quite complex nose; smooth/polished/balanced strong pungent/smokey/espresso/bit roasted Rhonish rather blueberry/blackberry/Syrah fairly rich structured light tannic beautiful complex flavor; very long/lingering smooth/elegant/polished black olive tapenade/smokey/espresso rather blueberry/Syrah finish w/ smooth/elegant tannins; a classic mature Qupe Syrah that may go another 5-10 yrs; a beautiful example of Calif Syrah. $80.00/magnum
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And a wee BloodyPulpit:
1. In its youth, this wine was not particularly dramatic, powerful, or extracted. But, given BobLindquist's track record w/ Syrah, I was confident it would develop into something special. It has certainly done that...and then some.
One of the techniques Bob uses in making this wine (or used to) is to take is light saignee wine and put it in his new FrancoisFreres barrels to season them, which gives then a huge smokey/oak character. He then uses this oaked/saignee wine to backblend into the Hillside to get the right degree of smokey character he seeks. It's a very distinctive/somewhat Rhonish character that you find in the Hillside as it matures. I've actually had a sample of this saignee wine w/ some age on it that Bob shared at HdR lunch onetime. Rather light in color, but absolutely beautiful aromatics.
This '95 was a splendid example of how some Calif Syrahs can mature. But not a popular style w/ some important wine critics.
Tom