We tried tonight (2/24/16) Some Archive Wines:
1. EdmundsStJohn Syrah DurrellVnyd/SonomaVlly (13.6%) 1993: Med.color w/ slight bricking; lovely smokey/
pungent roasted/Rhonish/meaty bit wet wool/mousey rather complex nose; bit tart strong roasted/Rhonish/
smokey/pungent/smoked meats flavor w/ light smooth tannins; long/lingering bit tart smokey/cedary/
pungent rather oldRhonish/roasted/smoked meats finish w/ light gentle tannins; not much fruit left but
a beautiful complex/oldRhone character; a bit of mousey/hantavirus character in the nose but that
cleared w/ breathing; a classic/mature EdStJ Syrah.
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2. EdmundsStJohn Syrah DurrellVnyd/SonomaVlly (13.6%) 1994: Med.light cloudy color w/ some bricking; rather
old/tired cedary bit appley slightly oxidized nose; very tart/acid/tangey quite sour bit oxidized/tired
rotted apples some cedary/pencilly/oak flavor w/ light dried-out tannins; med.long quite sour rather
tart/tangy some oxidized/tired/dried-out bit cedary/pencilly finish w/ light astringent/bitter tannins;
pretty much dead & gone.
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3. Donkey&Goat ThreeThirteen RW Calif (14.4%l U) 2006: Med.color w/ slight bricking; light smokey/pungent
some bright strawberry/Grenache slight Rhonish/CdP attractive complex nose; lightly tart bit sour rather
earthy/dusty/ElDorado slight Grenache/strawberry light Rhonish/CdP flavor w/ light gentle tannins;
med.light Grenache/strawberry bit Rhonish/earthy/dusty finish w/ light smooth tannins; not a profound
Rhone blend but has developed into a pleasant CdR-like/mature red.
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4. Donkey&Goat FourThirteen RW Blend ElDorado (14.2%; U) 2009: Med.light color w/ some bricking; more earthy/
dusty/smokey/pungent bit blackberry/Syrah/cranberry bit earthy/ElDorado rather attractive bit complex nose;
lightly tart some blackberry/Syrah earthy/dusty light pungent/smokey w/ light gentle tannins; long light
blackberry/Syrah bit earthy/dusty/ElDorado bit pungent/smokey finish w/ light smooth tannins; quite a nice
fully mature Rhone blend that speaks mostly of ElDorado Syrah and nothing like mature CdP.
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5. Donkey&Goat Syrah Reserve BrokenLegVnyd/AndersonVlly (U; 14.1%l #482 of 750; www.DonkeyAndGoat.com) 2007:
Med.dark color; lovely peppery/cold-climateSyrah strong blackberry/Syrah bit roasted/Rhonish slight VA/EA
complex nose; quite tart rather hot/fumey/volatile/EA light peppery/c-cSyrah some blackberry/Syrah/spicy
flavor w/ light bitey tannins; med.long pretty hot/fumey/volatile/EA light blackberry/peppery/c-c finish
w/ light brittle tannins; quite an interesting c-c Syrah in the nose but a raging volatility on the palate.
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6. Donkey&Goat Syrah FenaughtyVnyd/ElDorado (14.4%; U) 2008: Dark color; rather earthy/mushroomy/ElDorado
smokey some blueberry/blackberry/Syrah some complex slight Rhonish nose; soft/lush/ripe some earthy/
mushroomy/ElD strong blackberry/Syrah/blueberry flavor w/ light smooth tannins; very long/lingering light
smokey/pungent some earthy/dusty/ElD strong blueberry/Syrah finish w/ light gentle tannins; quite a
lovely/mature ElD Syrah that resembles some a more rustic EdStJ Syrah.
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7. VIE Grenache l'Imaginaire SBC (14.5%; www.VIEWinery.com) 2006: Med.color w/ slight bricking; Med.color w/
slight bricking; light strawberry/Grenache some earthy/dusty light toasty/oak bit Rhonish interesting
nose; soft light strawberry/Grenache some earthy/dusty/Rhonish light toasty/oak flavor w/ light bitey
tannins; med.long light strawberry/Grenache/earthy/bit Rhonish light toasty/oak finish w/ light lean/
bitey tannins; interesting vaguely Rhonish Grenache but not developing well.
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8. VIE Syrah LasMadresVnyd/Carneros/SonomaCnty (14.1%; clones 174 & 300) 2006: Med.color w/ some bricking;
quite smokey/pungent bit peppery some green olive/black olive bit volatile/pickle juice rather strange nose;
strong hot/volatile/pickle juice some black olive slight blackberry/Syrah flavor w/ light bitey tannins;
med.long black olive slight blackberry/Syrah strong volatile/pickle juice; not developed well at all and
has a raging volatility to it.
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9. TheOjaiVnyd OjaiRed Calif TW (14.5%; 2/04/14) NV ('13): Med.color; lovely cherry/PN light toasty/oak bit
earthy quite attractive nose; lightly tart bit lean bright cherry/PN light toasty/oak slight black cherry/
blackberry/Syrah flavor w/ light tannins; med.long bright cherry/PN light toasty/charred/oak bit tart finish
w/ light brisk tannins; just a pretty/drinkable PN at a great price. $16.00
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10. AlbanVnyds Syrah Reva AlbanEstate/EdnaVlly (13%) 1993: Med.dark color w/ very slight bricking; slight funky
very strong pencilly/cedary/toasty/oak some bretty/unclean light blackberry/Syrah slight floral/violets/Syrah
fairly complex nose; slightly tart rather unclean/bretty some pencilly/toasty/oak light floral/violets/
blackberry/Syrah flavor w/ light gentle tannins; very long bit tart/tangy/dried out rather bretty/unclean
light floral/violets/Syrah rather pencilly/cedary/oak finish w/ light smooth tannins; in remarkably good shape
for a 20+ yr old Syrah but a bit too unclean/bretty to be pleasurable.
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11. Shane Syrah TheUnknown SonomaCnty (14.9%; 125 cs; www.ShaneWines.com) 2006: Dark/black color; very strong
blackberry/blueberry/Syrah/boysenberry quite spicy slight peppery light toasty/oak nose; lightly tart very
ripe intense blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry/ripe some toasty/oak flavor w/ light angular tannins; very long strong
ripe blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah light toasty/oak finish w/ light tight tannins; a rather ripe Syrah that is
probably at its peak.
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12. Shane Syrah JemroseVnyd/BennettVlly (14.9%; 45 cs) 2006: Very dark color; very strong/intense blackberry/Syrah/
boysenberry light toasty/oak some licorice/plummy nose; lightly tart rather intense blackberry/blueberry/
boysenberry/Syrah very ripe strong toasty/oak slight peppery/cold-climate Syrah flavor w/ modest ripe/hard tannins;
very long intense blackberry/blueberry/Syrah strong toasty/oak finish w/ some hard tannins; still needs another
2-5 yrs; pretty intense Syrah that shows a bit of c-c/peppery character.
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13. Shane Syrah ValentiVnyd/AndersonVlly (14.9%; 70 cs) 2006: Very dark color; very intense ripe/boysenberry/Syrah/
blackberry some c-c/peppery light toasty/oak huge fruit nose; slightly tart big/lush/extracte intense blackberry/
blueberry/Syrah some c-c/peppery/cracked black pepper light toasty/oak flavor w/ ample hard/ripe tannins; very
long/[/b]lingering very intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/licorice rather c-c/cracked pepper finish w/ ample
hard tannins; needs 3-7 yrs yet; loads of intense c-c/Syrah fruit w/ no signs of drying out or ageing.
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Stuff from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. VIE: This is wine made by BrianKane in SanFrancisco, now making his wine on TreasureIsland. The LasMadresVnyd
is truly one of the great Calif cold-climate Syrah vnyds. I find it has a distinctive black olive character to
it. This VIE showed a bit of this but was marred by a raging volatility.
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2. Alban '93: This wine was, in fact, JohnAlban's first Syrah. It was a totally different, in its youth, from the
Syrahs that he started making about '95. First clue is the low alcohol level. The wine was not all that exciting
as it was loaded w/ a ton of new oak at release. But I thought John had a lot of potential. Around '95, he settled
into his current style of high alcohol/high extraction/loads of oak...and the points started rolling in from
Monktown.
At release, the wine showed no signs of brett that I recall. But it has sure come to the forefront. Actually,
I was quite surprised that it had gone out 20+ yrs and was as good as it was.
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3. D&G: This is the wnry of Tracey & Jared Brandt. First met their wines when they were pouring at a RhoneRangers
in SanFrancisco. They were, early-on, solid 4-square producers of mostly ElDorado Rhones. Since then, they have
become the darlings of the natural wine movement as they've embraced that style of winemaking. I still like
their wines, in general, but they can sometimes be a bit hit or miss.
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4. Shane: This be ShaneFinley's wnry. Once winemaker at Kosta-Brown and Lynmar, he now does mostly his label and
a bit of consulting. I like his wines quite a lot, particularly his Syrahs. These three were particularly good.
Tom
