We tried this week (6/10/15) some Calif Rhones:
1. Ridge 50% Syrah/Grenache LyttonEstate/DryCreekVlly (14.1%; 37 brls; Bttld: Nov 2013; Drk: 9/13-9/19-9/20: EB)
2011: Dark color; rather earthy/dusty strong blackberry/Syrah bit strawberry/Grenache strong smokey/vanilla/oak/
toasty nose; fairly tart bit hard/austere rather dusty/earthy some blackberry/Syrah/Grenache/strawberry fruit
rather smokey/vanilla/oak flavor w/ ample rough/rugged tannins; long fairly tart rather earthy/dust some
blackberry/Syrah/strawberry strong smokey/Am.oak structured/extracted finish w/ ample rugged/hard tannins; not
a lot of Syrah fruit and speaks strongly of Ridge winemaking but has the structure to develop into a special
old Ridge red. $30.60 (ATP)
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2. Ridge 50% Syrah/Grenache LytonEstate/DryCreekVlly/SonomaCnty (14.7%; 34 brls; Bttld: June 2012;
Drk: 3/12-3/18-3/20: EB) 2010: Very dark color; much stronger blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah light Grenache/
strawberry very light earthy/dusty light vanilla/oak nose; lightly tart strong blackberry/Syrah light Grenache
light vanilla/smokey/oak flavor w/ some hard/bitey tannins; long bit softer strong blackberry/Syrah/light Grenache
some vanilla/pungent/oak finish w/ some hard/rugged tannins; more Syrah fruit and less hard/rugged on the
palate; speaks strongly of Ridge red. $34.00 (ATP)
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3. Ridge Calif 50% Syrah/Grenache LyttonEstate/DryCreekVlly (14.4%; 54 brls; Bttld: November 2009;
Drk: 8/09-8/15-8/17: EB) 2007: Med.dark color; some pencilly/cedary/vanilla/oak light earthy/dusty some
blackberry/Syrah/bit strawberry/Grenache light mushroomy/forest floor much more aromatic some complex nose;
softer lightly tart earthy/dusty/mushroomy strong blackberry/Syrah/strawberry lighter vanilla/Am.oak/smokey
flavor w/ lighter/smoother tannins; long some blackberry/Syrah/Grenache lighter vanilla/Am.oak bit mushroomy/
forest floor/earthy/dusty/compost pile finish w/ lighter slightly bitter/astringent tannins; showing much
more development and still in need of another few yrs yet. $30.00 (ATP)
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4. AllisRanchWnry Reserve Syrah (15.6%; AllisRanchWine.com) Sedalia/CO 2009: Dark color; very strong TCA/corked/musty
nose; soft/ripe dreadfully TCA-infected/corked flavor; way too corked to tell anything. $27.00 (BWM)
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5. Arnot-Roberts Syrah QueSyrahVnyd/SonomaCoast (13%; 100% whole-cluster; 8 brls) 2013: Dark color; very strong
cracked black pepper/classic whole-cluster/Rhonish/green olive some earthy/dusty slight blackberry/Syrah some
complex nose; very tart/lean/eviscerated/tangy/mineral very strong cracked black pepper/W-C/Rhonish light
blackberry/Syrah flavor w/ some bitey/bitter tannins; med.long Rhonish/cracked pepper/W-C very tart/lean/mineral
light blackberry/Syrah/earthy finish w/ some hard/astringent tannins; quite a lean/hard/eviscerated/brittle
kind of Syrah that one can only hope age will remedy; not very pleasant drinking now but one can only hope;
not a lot of fruit and dominated by the peppery/W-C character; quite pricey for what it is now; fans of
EricTexier should love this wine. $75.00
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6. Boheme Syrah QueSyrahVnyd/SonomaCoast (13.5%; 110 cs) KurtBeitlerWines/Rutherford 2005: Med.dark color; very
strong smokey/Rhonish/espresso/roasted very strong blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry/licorice/pungent very spicy
some black pepper/cold-climate beautiful/complex aromatic nose; slightly tart rich/lush/mouthfilling very
strong blackberry/Syrah/very spicy some black pepper/cold-climate/black olive quite Rhonish/roasted/espresso/
licorice/pungent flavor w/ modest smooth/ripe tannins; very long/lingering very Rhonish/roasted/espresso/smokey/
pungent very strong blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry/very spicy some black pepper/green olive/cold-climate very
complex beautiful finish w/ light smooth/ripe tannins; still can go another 4-5 yrs; loads of complex cold-
climate Syrah fruit w/ lots of Rhonish character; one of the best/mature Calif Syrahs I've had in some time;
a terrific expression of QueSyrah. $32.00
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7. Reustle/PrayerRockVnyds Syrah Winemaker'sBestBarrel (EG; 13.5%; Drk: 2015-2022; 100% Fr.oak; 1 brl) 2012: Very
dark color; very strong blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/licorice some toasty/oak/smokey fairly perfumed nose;
slightly tart strong blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/licorice/pungent some toasty/oak/smokey flavor w/ modest
chalky/gritty tannins; very long blackberry/ripe/boysenberry/Syrah/licorice some toasty/oak finish w/ some
gritty tannins; lots of primary Syrah fruit and needs several yrs yet; quite a good OR Syrah. $40.00 (vSK)
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8. Harrington SubRosa Calif RW (Cinsault & Counoise from NovaVnyd/YoloCnty + Grenache old-vine/Alamaden test block/
RioSanBenito planted in 1954; 14.1% 66 cs) 2013: Med.dark color; rather fragrant/strawberry/Grenache/spicy slight
plummy/earthy/candied rather attractive nose; slightly tart perfumed/strawberry/Grenache some spicy/plummy/
earthy/dusty/OV/candied fairly lush quite drinkable/pretty flavor w/ light gentle tannins; med.long plummy/
strawberry/Grenache some dusty/OV/candied finish w/ light/gentle tannins; speaks strongly of OV Grenache and
much like Clos du Gilroy but less intense fruit; quite a nice-drinking/pretty Grenache. $25.00
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9. Failla Syrah HudsonVnyd/NapaVlly (14.1%; 325 cs) 2013: Very dark color; some green olive/cold-climate/peppery
rather perfumed/blackberry/Syrah/spicy light smokey/toasty/Fr.oak rather complex nose; bit tart very strong
cold-climate/green olive/slight peppery strong blackberry/Syrah some Rhonish/smokey/roasted bit toasty/oak
flavor w/ modest bit bitey tannins; very long/lingering strong cold-climate/green olive/peppery/Rhonish/
roasted/smokey strong blackberry/Syrah/spicy light toasty/oak structured some tart complex finish w/ modest
tannins; a lovely/classic expression of Hudson cold-climate Syrah. $56.00
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10. PaixSurTerre songs of its own GlenroseVnyd/AdelaidaDistrict/PasoRobles (55% Grenache/30% Mourv/12% Syrah/
3% Counoise; 15.0%) 2013: Dark color; very strong plummy/boysenberry/strawberry/Grenache light toasty/oak
quite perfumed/fragrant nose; soft/rich/lush very strong plummy/boysenberry/strawberry/Grenache/ripe slight
earthy/dusty light toasty/oak flavor w/ some soft/smooth/ripe tannins; very long rich/lush/mouthfilling
strong plummy/boysenberry/strawberry/Grenache light toasty/oak finish w/ some ripe/smooth tannins; a lovely
GSM blend that will benefit from several yrs age. $nc (M&DP)/$48.00
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11. PaixSurTerre comes a time Mourvedre AltaColinaVnyd/AdelaidaDistrict/PasoRobles (15.2%;
www.PaixSurTerreWines.com) 2013: Very dark color; very intense blackberry/boysenberry/licorice/plummy/Mourv
slight alcoholic ripe/perfumed nose; soft/rich/lush/ripe very strong plummy/Mourv/licorice/boysenberry light
toasty/oak flavor w/ some ripe/smooth tannins; very long ripe/plummy/Mourv/boysenberry/licorice slight chocolaty
light toasty/oak finish w/ some ripe/smooth/plush tannins; a lovely 4-Square Paso Mourv that should benefit
from several yrs of age. $nc (M&DP)/$48.00
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12. PaixSurTerre The other one Mourvedre GlenroseVnyd/AdelaidaDistrict/PasoRobles (15.2%) 2013: Dark color; very
strong plummy/Mourv/boysenberry/blackberry/spicy bit herbal/chocolaty light toasty/oak more spicy/interesting
rather perfumed less ripe nose; bit tarter strong plummy/Mourv/boysenberry/licorice/RCCola slight herbal/earthy
less ripe more interesting flavor w/ modest ripe/smooth/polished tannins; very long/lingering ripe/plummy/Mourv/
boysenberry/blackberry/spicy bit herbal/RCCola/earthy light toasty/oak finish w/ modest ripe/smooth tannins;
more interesting of the two Mourvs and will benefit from 3-5 yrs of age. $nc (M&DP)/$52.00
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13. VillaCreek HighRoad JamesBerryVnyd/PasoRobles (Syrah/Grenache/Mourvedre; 14.8%) ChrisCherry 2007: Dark color
w/ slight bricking; some alcoholic/fumey/very ripe bit volatile/EA overripe/chocolaty/jammy/confected chocolaty/
boysenberry nose; soft/fat overripe/chocolaty/jammy/licorice/Smucker's boysenberry jam slight RS quite volatile/
fumey/EA/alcoholic/hot over-the-top flavor w/ slight bitey tannins; an over-the-top/jammy/volatile/hot/fumey/goopy
wine to which time has not been kind. $48.00 (LA)
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A more blatherings from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. QueSyrah: I have, of course, followed Ginny & Al Rago's vnyd from the very start. It is one of the coldest
Syrah vnyds in Calif and truly a great Calif Syrah vnyd. It was originally made by EhrenJordan under the
Failla-Jordan label. He eventually dropped the vnyd and the farming (and making the wine) was taken over by
KurtBeitler. Kurt, related to Caymus ChuckWagner, lives just up TaylorRidgeRd and was responsible for
establishing the Caymus TaylorRidge Pinot vnyd. He made the Syrah at Caymus until moving his winemaking to
Forestville. Both Ehren & Kurt have made some truly monumental Syrahs from QueSyrah over the yrs and are
responsible for establishing QueSyrah has one of the great Syrah vnyds in Calif. Kurt made the wine
under his Boheme and, later, RanchoBodega label. He last sourced QueSyrah grapes in 2012, which is now in his
OccidentalHills Syrah (https://bohemewines.com/store/).
Duncan & Nathan of Arnot-Roberts took over the farming of QueSyrah vnyd in 2013 and now making the wine.
They have done some replanting in QueSyrah to address some disease issues in certain blocks. D&N are, of course,
card-carrying members of the IPoB movement. This A-R QueSyrah was dominated by the whole-cluster/peppery character
and seemed to not show a whole lot of fruit. A dramatically different style/rendition of QueSyrah fruit like we've
not seen before. I would have to say that even though the alcohol is much lower than usual for QueSyrah, this
wine is definitely not in balance...at least at this point in time. Perhaps, with btl age, this A-R Syrah will
come into balance and make great old bones. I'm very confident that Kurt's '12 will become wonderful Syrah
w/ age. I don't have the experience to confidently predict that this A-R will...it's a bit of a gamble.
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2. Ridge: These Ridges were pretty typical of Ridge Rhones. They speak strongly of Ridge winemaking w/ a lot of
vanilla/Am.oak and not a lot of classical Calif fruit. They often seem a bit muddled in character. They are
Ridge's unique interpretation of LyttonSprings Rhone fruit. They are not very popular w/ my group but I've learned
to accept them for what they are. They usually develop into some pretty interesting old Ridge reds.
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3. AllisRanch: I was so very much looking forward to trying this Syrah. When I judged a month ago at the
Governor'sCup up in Denver, I had a bunch of Syrahs that I thought were terrific...as good as anything from
other areas of the USofA. Alas, this wine was pretty badly destroyed by the TCA. Hopefully, I'll get another
chance at ths wine down the road.
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4. PaixSurTerre: This was a wnry that Susan & I were introduced to by Mike&Debbie Payne on our last visit there
several yrs ago, at dinner. I was pretty impressed w/ the wines then. We had the '12 release over a yr ago and
I was equally impressed. Mike&Debbie were doing a visit in Paso several weeks ago, liked the '13 release quite
a lot, and ordered this threesome as a gift for our (they used to be part of us) wine group to try. The wines,
across the board, were very well liked.
Owned by Ryan & Nicole Pease, they specialize in Rhone wines, sourced from several vnyds on WestSide Paso.
They also make one of the few UgniBlancs in Calif. Despite the hefty alcohols of these three, they did not
seem particularly hot/alcoholic/overripe and showed good balance. They remind me some of the Saxum & Booker
wines, but not as over-the-top as those wines can be. And not the frightful prices those wine inflict.
Of these three, TheOtherOne was my clear favorite. The PST wines are worth trying if you haven't had them.
Tom