Tried this last night as a mystery wine:
1. Eberle Syrah FralichVnyd/PasoRobles (13.3%) 1993: Med.light somewhat bricked color; somewhat bretty/horsecollar/leathery
slight strawberry/Syrah rather cedary/pencilly/old red some complex nose; somewhat dried out/tannic/astringent slight strawberry/Syrah rather
bretty/unclean/horsecollar some cedary/pencilly flavor; med.short dried out/astringent/tannic somewhat cedary/pencilly/old red slight
strawberry/Syrah complex finish; a survivor but just that; more of intellectual than sensual pleasure. $18.00
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A wee BP:
1. Not quite sure who was winemaker then, BillSheffer (now at HalterRanch) or DanPanico (now at DoverCanyon). This was a period that
the Eberle wines were starting to show some serious brett problems. The current ones do not. This was also about the time that GaryEberle
was becoming disenchanted w/ GaryFralich's Syrah & Viognier grapes because of poor farming practices. Fralich went on to start his
own wnry, but I don't think he's still in business. Not sure where the grapes go now.
When I first tasted the EstrellaRiver Syrah in '77 from barrel w/ Gary, I was quite taken by its lovely aromatics of strawberries, the
signature of EstrellaClone Syrah. It was the first hint of potential greatness for Syrah in Calif. The rest is history.
I was expecting this '93 Syrah to be totally shot. It was not. It still showed a bit of strawberry/Syrah character, but mostly
a lot of that cedary/pencilly old red wine character. It was pretty long of tooth and didn't offer up a whole lot of pleasure.
Tom