1. AlbanVnyd Syrah Reva AlbanEstate/EdnaVlly (14.1%) 1998: Very dark color w/ no bricking; strong charred/smokey/oak/toasty very strong blackberry/Syrah/licorice/boysenberry slight reduced/pungent big Syrah nose; very strong toasty/charred/burnt/smokey/Fr.oak intense blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry pungent bit tannic/astringent/dried out little complex flavor; long bit hard/tannic/astringent/dried out intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah strong charred/toasty/burnt/oak finish; a typical massive/monolithic Alban Syrah.
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2. NavarroVnyds WhiteRiesling AndersonVlly/Mendocino LateHrvst ClusterSelect (10.6%; RS: 28%; SaH: 43%) 1997: Dark brown color of a PX; intense botrytis/peachy/apricotty/canned fruit cocktail slight volatile/EA cedary quite complex/old TBA nose; tart quite sweet/syrupy slight raisened intense botrytis/canned peaches/apricots/fruit cocktail slight volatile classic old TBA flavor; very long tart very sweet/syrupy intense botrytis/peachy/apricotty/fruit cocktail bit raisened complex finish; despite the brown color, shows no signs whatsoever of any oxidation; a lovely old TBA-level Riesling that should go out at least another 10 yrs.
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. I have, of course, followed JohnAlban's Syrahs from the very start. The '93 Estate. Since I was dumped from his mailing list, I've not had much opportunity to try them of late, except at HdR.
This '98 was well within the time frame of John's current style of Syrah; tiny yields (hence, big $$'s), huge/massive Syrah fruit, loads of charred/toasty oak. As I recall from my notes; this wine was rather reduced/stinky upon release. That reductive character has largely gone away.
At the time I first had this wine; I was mightly impressed. A ton of Syrah fruit, loads oof oak, big extract, high tannins, high acidity...you just knew that this wine was going to be great when it reached maturity. Certain Monktown attourneys were in agreement.
Now...I'm not so sure what I knew then is what I know now. At 13 yrs of age, thiis wine has hardly moved anywhere. It shows very little complexity and evolution that I'd hoped for. It's still a monolithic Alban Syrah. Before it every developes any complexity or evolution, it's going to be a race between the fading of the tannins and the fading of the fruit before you'll see any complexity arising. From this btl, I'm not so sure that the tannins won't win the race...that it won't be nothing but a big tannic beast w/ some fruit left at 20-25 yrs. I would have to say that a Qupe, an EsmundsStJohn, a Failla offers up much more interest & complexity at 13 yrs of age than this Alban does. Who knows?? Got two more data points that I can take.
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2. Novarro: TedBennett is probably the old Calif master at making these BA/TBA botrytis wines; now that WalterShug and DickArrowood have sorta abandoned the field.
This wine was a good example of my assertion that heavy botrytis obliterates varietal character. I struggled to find any of what I thought to be Riesling varietal character in this wine. I'd had a few weeks before the Navarro Dry Riesling '06. I could find no similarities between that wine and this. Terrior?? May have been hiding in there, but I sure couldn't identify. Maybe my palate has been nuked of such nuances by all thos StaRitaHills Pinots disguised as Syrahs!!!
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3. 315: Bistro 315 in SantaFe is one of my go-to restaurants when I'm dying for a great meal. LouisMoskow's restaurant is consistently at the top of its game. Fri night was no exception. And maybe the best/most interesting wine list in all NewMexico.
Tom
