WTN: 2007 Lagier Meredith Syrah

A short visit to Napa was just enough time to navigate our way up the mountain to visit Carole Meredith and Steve Lagier. This was my first time tasting their wine, and I don't know why it has eluded me all these years, as it is in a style I enjoy.

After a tour of the property, we sat on their deck overlooking the vineyard above the fog, tasting both the 2010 and the 2007 LM Syrah. Both wines are stylish and restrained, and I bought an extra 2007 to open when we went back to Berkeley the next day to share with family with some Bryan Flannery NY Strips that we picked up on our drive back.

2007 Lagier Meredith Syrah - cherry and olive aromas. The palate is rich and complex. Intense cherry fruit with flashes of black olive and black pepper, but never interfering with the purity of the fruit. It has balanced acidity and firm tannins, and it is long and delicious.

Lagier Meredith is on my short, but growing, list of Napa and Sonoma wineries that produce wines in a restrained and appealing style.

Many thanks to Carole and Steve for their hospitality.

Feh. What does Carole Meredith know about wine?

Did you get a chance to taste their Mondeuse and Precious Bane? The Mondeuse is excellent, reminds me more of a Petite Sirah with all that tannin, but its still very much a pup. Precious Bane is an excellent Syrah fortified.

We visited last month and while that road up the mountain is not for the faint hearted (Steve said he has done it in reverse!) it is worth the effort to see the views they have and sample their wines. Anyone with a taste for Syrah should be on their mailing list.

A little trivia about Precious Bane; as told by Carole. Its named after a novel written by Mary Webb, the great aunt of Carole Meredith. A character in the book is named Jancis Beguildy. And the parent's of a very well know wine writer/critic named their child after her - Jancis Robinson!

Mike

I've enjoyed the couple of LM wines I've had
Glad to see you're in CA rather than LI, good timing!

Just a thing or two, Hoke.

I only tasted those two Syrah, Mike. I think Carol has also backed up or down the mountain in order to let another car pass.
That trivia note is fascinating. Carol is a wonderful story teller, in addition to making beautiful wine.

Dale, we were in Colorado the weekend of the hurricane with plans to fly to California that Monday. All of the east coast guests were stuck in Denver until later in the week when the airports opened. It was just dumb luck that we made those plans. I wish I was there now rather than have to deal with the ugly gas situation. Long Island was hit hard, but we were very fortunate with minimal damage. I know people who have had extensive damage, and some who have lost their homes. I hope you made out okay.

Thanks for the note, Diane. I have some of the '07, having bought it on the strength of the wines we tasted when we visited Carole and Steve: the '04 and '05 Syrahs. They were exactly as you describe the '07, restraint being the operative word. The drive up to their place almost did my carsickness-prone wife in, however, but the hospitality of Carole and Steve, not to mention Carole's great homecured olives, shortly got her set straight again.

Mark Lipton

[David M. Bueker]

I really enjoy the LM wines, and the '07 Syrah is especially delicious. With LM, Rhys, Anthill, Arnot-Roberts, ESJ, etc the volume of CA Syrah that I like is starting to exceed wallet/cellar capacity. Combine that with the "mandatory" Rhone purposes (e.g. Gonon), and the volume of Syrah entering the cellar is pretty large.

Thanks, Diane, you brought back really good memories of my visit there in Feb 2010. I still have three bottles left from that visit but have determined to order more, now that we can ship to Maryland.