We tried last week (3/9/16) some Archive Calif Rhones:
1. Drew Syrah Six-Sense SantaBarbaraCnty (14.5%; 290 cs) Buellton 2003: Dark color; lovely blackberry/Syrah/
boysenberry/licorice some peppery some toasty/oak complex nose; bit soft very rich/lush intense blackberry/
Syrah/licorice/ripe light toasty/oak flavor w/ some hard/bitey tannins; very long strong blackberry/Syrah/
licorice bit peppery finish w/ light bitey tannins; not a lot of complex and probably headed down, but
a classic mature SBC Syrah.
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2. Drew Syrah Rodney's & Larner Vnyds/SantaYnezVlly ( (14.5%; 150 cs) 2002: Very dark color; deeper more
cracked black pepper bit Rhonish less intense blackberry/Syrah very spicy beautiful complex nose; fairly
tart strong cracked black pepper/very spicy/bit Rhonish strong blackberry/Syrah light toasty/oak flavor w/
lighter bit hard tannins; very long/lingering cracked black pepper/some Rhonish/roasted strong blackberry/
Syrah/spicy light toasty/Fr.oak fairly complex finish w/ light angular tannins; more structure & acid &
harder tannins than the other Drews; my favorite of the Drews.
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3. Drew Syrah Alisos & Thompson Vnyds/SBC (13.8%; 150 cs) 2002: Very dark color; slightly less cracked black
pepper very spicy/blackberry/Syrah/licorice slight Rhonish/coffee/roasted bit earthy/dusty bit more aged
nose; slightly tart bit smokey/toasty/oak slightly less blackberry/Syrah/spicy bit more aged flavor w/ light
bitey tannins; med.long some blackberry/Syrah/cracked black pepper/spicy bit pencilly/cedary/oak bit more
aged finish w/ light hard tannins; starting to show some age but still quite tasty.
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4. Drew Syrah HearthstoneVnyd/PasoRobles (13.8%; 100 cs) 2003: Dark color; slightly funky/wet wool bit fumey/
alcoholic strong ripe/jammy/boysenberry/cranberry/Syrah rather simpler nose; soft bit alcoholic/fumey bit
acetic/pickle juice very ripe/boysenberry/cranberry/jammy/Syrah light toasty/oak flavor w/ modest smooth/
ripe tannins; med.long soft ripe/jammy/boysenberry/Syrah slight pickle juice/acetic bit alcoholic/fumey
finish w/ light smooth tannins; seems on the very ripe side and not evolving well.
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5. Prieure de Saint Jean de Bebian AC: Coteaux du Languedoc (14.5%; 40% Syrah/40% Grenache/20% Morvedre)
LeBrun-Lecouty/Prezenas 2001: Dark color w/ light bricking; rather earthy/dusty/loamy little fruit some
cedary/pencilly/oak/oldRed bit complex nose; soft bit tired/dried out rather cedary/pencilly/oak no
fruit rather earthy/dusty flavor w/ light bitey tannins; med.short earthy/dusty/loamy some cedary/pencilly
rather tired finish w/ light astringent tannins; a rather rough/rustic/coarse tired red w/ no fruit; not
totally shot but not developed at all well. $25.00
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6. OjaiVnyd Syrah RollRanchVnyd/Calif (14.5%) 2005: Med.dark color; very strong blackberry/boysenberry/ripe/
Syrah bit primary slight roasted/smokey bit pencilly/oak some complex nose; soft some ripe/boysenberry/
blackberry/Syrah light smokey/pencilly/oak flavor w/ light gentle tannins; long ripe/boysenberry/
blackberry/Syrah some pencilly/smokey/oak slight earthy finish w/ light smooth tannins; lots of ripe fruit
but probably as good as it's gonna get and will just start to show more stewed fruit; would like a bit
more structure and seems a bit oafish.
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7. OjaiVnyd Syrah BienNacidoVnyd/SantaMariaVlly (14.5%) 2004: Very dark color; classic BN/black cherry/
blackberry/Syrah very spicy bit peppery slight earthy light smokey/burnt/charredfairly complex beautiful
nose; bit tart black cherry/blackberry/Syrah slight peppery bit smokey/charred/pungent classic BN flavor w/
light smooth tannins; very long/lingering very slight earthy/funky strong black cherry/Syrah/blackberry/
light peppery some pungent/smokey/charred/Fr.oak finish w/ light velvety tannins; the best & the most complex
of the Ojais; a classic mature Ojai ready to go.
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8. OjaiVnyd Syrah Verna'sVnyd/SantaBarbaraCnty (14.5%) 2004: Dark color w/ no bricking; very strong ripe/
blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry rather perfumed slight reduced/funky some ripe/jammy quite exhuberent nose;
softer ripe/boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah/licorice bit jammy very light toasty/oak flavor w/ light gentle
tannins; very long ripe/boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah light toasty/smokey/Fr.oak bit licorice/jammy finish
w/ light smooth tannins; a bit on the ripe side and not as complex as the BN but pretty much ready to go.
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9. AlbanVnyd Grenache AlbanEstateVnyd/EdnaVlly (15.3%) ArroyoGrande 2002: Very dark bit cloudy color; bit
alcoholic/fumey strong charred/burnt/Fr.oak intense ripe/boysenberry/Grenache licorice/pungent very primary/
huge fruit nose; bit tart fairly hot/alcoholic intense blackberry/boysenberry/Grenache some charred/burnt/oak
licorice/pungent flavor w/. abundant ripe/hard tannins; very long/lingering extracted/huge fruit intense
blackberry/boysenberry/Grenache rather hot/alcoholic strong burnt/charred/oak very ripe/licorice finish w/
ample ripe/hard tannins; shows more Grenache than to '03; still very primary and showing very little
development in either softening of tannins or complexity; a huge wine that may never develop into anything
interesting and just remain a huge wine forever; plenty of acidity & structure and not what I would call
a fruit bomb.
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10. AlbanVnyd Grenache AlbanEstateVnyd/EdnaVlly (16.2%) 2003: Very dark color; rather hot/alcoholic/fumey bit
more complex huge/intense boysenberry/Grenache/very ripe some charred/smokey/burnt/oak very ripe/rather
over-the-top nose; softer huge fruit/extracted very ripe/licorice/boysenberry/Grenache quite hot/alcoholic
some charred/burnt flavor w/ ample ripe tannins; very long/lingering very intense/boysenberry/Grenache strong
charred/burnt/oak quite hot/alcoholic bit complex finish w/ ample ripe/hard/round tannins; showing a bit
more complexity but huge/extracted fruit a rather over-the-top/alcoholic.
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11. AlbanVnyd Syrah Reva AlbanEstateVnyd/EdnaVlly (15.1%) 2002: Very dark color w/ no bricking; slightly reduced/
ozone intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/ripe strong charred/burnt/oak/smokey very primary/huge fruit nose;
soft very intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah somewhat alcoholic/hot strong charred/burnt/oak flavor w/
ample ripe/smooth tannins; very long/lingering huge fruit/boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah/licorice/ripe
structured strong burnt/charred/oak finish w/ strong soft/ripe tannins; showing a bit of development but
still rather primary & needs age.
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12. AlbanVnyd Syrah Reva AlbanEstateVnyd/EdnaVlly (15.8%) 2003: Very dark near black color; rather alcoholic/
fumey very ripe/blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah bit complex huge fruit some charred/burnt/oak nose; soft rather
hot/alcoholic/fumey very intense boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah/licorice strong charred/burnt/oak flavor w/
ample ripe tannins; very long/lingering rather hot/fumey very intense/very ripe/boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah
strong charre/burnt/oak/coffee bean structured/huge fruit finish w/ loads of ripe tannins; a huge/over-the-
top extracted alcoholic Syrah.
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More wisdom from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. Drew: I've followed Jason & Molly Drew from the very start, in Buellton. They made pretty big/extracted
Syrahs somewhat in the style of Jaffurs but w/ a bit more interest. In 2004, Jason wished to return to his
roots up in MendoCnty and purchased old orchard property up on MendocinoRidge. Over the next few yrs, he
gradually changed his winemaking style from the big/bombastic wines he did w/ SBC fruit to one of more
elegant/restrained winemaking. He has become one of the heros of the IPoB crowd. I continue to like his
Mendo Syrahs quite a lot, but they are much different in style from what he did in SBC. I'm a bit less
enamored by his Pinots. But his Viognier and Albarinos are some of the finest made in Calif.
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2. Alban: Tasting Alban wines always reminds me of my teenage yrs. There were then these body-builder
magazines w/ the guys w/ ripped biceps and abs. You would look at these pics in absolute awe and be
certain if you had that kind of body, all the hot-chicks would be climbing all over you. The actually
appeared grotesque & over-the-top in a weird sort of way.
These Alban wines are like that. You stand back in awe of the xtraction & intensity that they show
and because of this extract, you're certain that these grotesque charactiture of a wine will develop
into a magnificant wine w/ age. But I'm just not seeing any signs of evolution. They're still as huge &
extracted as they were in their youth and any evolution is at a glacial pace. They may never develop into
a wine that offers up the kind of pleasure as a Qupe Sonnie's...grown just across OrcuttRd from John.
Tom