Steve shared this mystery wine last night:
1. Failla PinotNoir OccidentalRidgeVnyd/SonomaCoast (13.6%) 2005: Med.dark color; strong blackberry/Syrah-like/boysenberry/black cherry cola/Pn quite smokey/pencilly/toasty/oak slight herbal/thyme rather complex nose; rather tart/hard very strong toasty/charred/oak rather herbal/rosemary/thyme very strong black cherry cola/boysenberry/Pinot/almost Syrah-like bit complex flavor w/ some hard/rough tannins; very long/lingering intense black cherry cola/boysenberry/ripe Pinot strong toasty/charred/oak bit herbal/thyme/pungent some complex finish w/ some hard/firm tannins; a huge Pinot w/ ample structure and needs more age.
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. This wine showed a huge amount of black cherry fruit and resembled a Syrah as mush as a Pinot. How this wine would pass muster w/ the IPoB crowd is beyond me. Served blind, I guessed it to be a Lagier-Meredith Syrah as it was not quite big enough to be a Failla Syrah (my 2'nd guess). The Pinot character thru me off. The wine has great concentration and may be one of those wines in which the fruit never outlives the tannins. But everybody loved this wine.
Tom