Finally had to have something good last night:
1. Carlisle Syrah RRV (15.5%; 130 cs) SantaRosa 2003: Very dark color w/ no bricking; very strong blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/licorice/black pepper light smokey/toasty/oak pungent huge fruit slight Oz-like/ripe beautiful intense nose; lightly tart very strong blackberry/boysenberry/ripe/Syrah structured very spicy/slight black pepper light toasty/oak flavor w/ modest smooth/ripe tannins; very long/lingering ripe/blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/licorice/peppery some toasty/smokey/oak structured finish w/ modest ripe/smooth tannins; still loads of primary Syrah fruit; on the ripe side, almost Oz-like, but no obvious alcoholic heat; in the perfect place right now and should go another 5 yrs or more.
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Flew thru a whole case of Zins last night (Swan SonomaCnty/Stellwagen/Zeigler '87; Franciscan '88; DryCreekVnyds OldVines '87) and was 0-5. They wines weren't really bad, but just on the tired side and brought no joy to my meal. The remaining balance went into the box to donate to the WineStreets of SantaFe program that I run. So I decided to turn to a sure thing, a Carlisle. This wine is exactly in the sweet spot and drinking beautifully. Not sure what vnyds this came from.
Tom