WTN: 05 ESJ Parmelee Hill Syrah

A couple of bottles from the past month have transformed into a different stage. Much less 'syrah-like' (at least by my standards) and a lot darker, meatier, and richer. It's still an ESJ so it has a streamlined herbal freshness component that is not always present in CA syrah. But it's just leaning so heavily on the sunny richness right now that it's not for me. I suppose it will come back with time? (Although I guess Steve hasn't made too many wines from this vineyard, so who knows).

And always interesting to keep these things in perspective, because I saw notes elsewhere about how 'light' and 'easy' this has been showing. To each his own.

[David M. Bueker]

I'm struggling to reconcile a few things:

"Less Syrah-like" with "meatier"
"Darker" with "sunny richness"

Perhaps it's just the eternal conundrum that is each bottle, but I normally see Syrah as a meaty wine.

I'm struggling to reconcile a few things:

"Less Syrah-like" with "meatier"
"Darker" with "sunny richness"

Perhaps it's just the eternal conundrum that is each bottle, but I normally see Syrah as a meaty wine.

I do admit that these are my own biased-skewed perceptions talking. I am sure this would fit right in with a broader tasting of CA syrah. Normally I think of the floral and olive components one gets from Northern Rhone syrah, which used to be present in this bottle about a year ago and are no longer there/much less present. At least in the two bottles I opened recently.

Not sure why 'darker' is hard to reconcile with 'sunny richness'. As wines gets darker they usually speak of more sun, ripeness, and richness?

[David M. Bueker]

My own biases showing I guess. I connect sunny with lighter fruits and floral elements.