1. Novy Syrah NapaVlly (15.7%) 2003: Very dark color w/ little bricking; rather toasty/pencilly/Siduri Fr.oak strong licorice/smokey/blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry slight ripe/alcoholic slight chocolate/coffee some developed/complex lovely nose; soft slightly hot/alcoholic some toasty/pencilly/Fr.oak strong blackberry/Syrah/licorice/smokey bit complex lovely flavor w/ light tannins; long slight hot/alcoholic/bitey strong blackberry/Syrah/licorice/coffee light pencilly/toasty/oak complex finish w/ modest tannins; alcohol starting to come to the forefront but has developed quite nicely; drink up.
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. I have, of course, followed the Novy Syrahs from the very start. Easily, my least favorite of his Syrahs are those from NapaVlly, the Page-Nord and the regular NapaVlly. Not bad Syrahs, per se...but they seem on the simple side and don't show much excitement for me. Not nearly the level of his other (RRV/BennettVlly/SantaLuciaHighlands) Syrahs. So I just grabbed thiis wine from my stash as sort of a throw-away wine for the evening. Surprise/surprise...it was far better than I expected it to be. It had developed quite nicely and was showing some secondary development. Very nice drinking. The alcohol it starting to show somewhat, but still under control. The tannins have mostly subsided but I suspect the alcohol level will prevent it from evolving along a positive trajectory. Anyway...good drinking stuff and a pleasant surprise from Adam.
Tom