We tried these two over the weekend:
1. Ramsay Syrah NapaVlly (13%) 1991: Med.dark color w/ slight bricking; rather cedary/pencilly/oldRed/tobaccoy some peppery/spicy/blackberry/Syrah slight Rhonish/earthy/coffee rather complex nose; soft some metallic/tangy/tired light Rhonish/earthy/espresso slight blackberry/Syrah/spicy quite cedary/pencilly/tobaccoy/oldRed flavor w/ very light slight bitey tannins; med.long soft some tired/tangy/metallic light Rhonish/coffee/smokey slight peppery/blackberry/Syrah/blackberry soda finish w/ light/sharp tannins; quite a nice & drinkable old Calif Syrah but starting to dry out some; much better than the recent '89.
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2. SeanThackrey Orion Syrah NapaVlly (13.1%) Bolinas 1990: Very dark color w/ no bricking; slight eucalyptus strong blackberry/Syrah/licorice/boysenberry slight bretty light smokey/toasty/Fr.oak bit graphite/mineral slight roasted/Rhonish/espresso quite complex nose; slightly tart strong peppery/blackberry/Syrah/licorice/pungent bit smokey/Rhonish toasty/oak/charred fairly complex flavor w/ some hard/drying/austere tannins; very long bit tart rather hard/angular strong blackberry/peppery/Syrah slight bretty some roasted/Rhonish strong toasty/oak finish w/ some hard/astringent/drying tannins; lost most of the intense eucalyptus character it had in its youth; a lovely/complex oldSyrah nose but rather hard/drying tannins on the palate; in pretty good condition given its age. $30.00
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Both of these wines were from the orphan stash in my garage, stored upright under totally uncontrolled temperatures, for over 20 yrs. They should have been dead & gone. They were not..they survived.
The Orion was from the old Phillips Syrah vnyd. The '91 was Sean's last Orion from there, as the vnyd was bought out under Sean by ClarkeSwanson. And then, eventually pulled out in favor of Merlot.
Tom