Broke into my last case from the orphan stash last week. After 4 '99 Cofarro's went down the drain, we tried:
1. Jaffurs Syrah SBC (14.0%) SantaMaria 1999: Dark/murky color w/ some browning; rather smokey/toasty/oak/pungent bit peppery/Rhonish/roasted/smokey bit wet wool/wet army blanket rather complex if a bit tired nose; rather tart/metallic/tangy bit dried out/astringent strong pungent/smokey/toasty/oak slight boysenberry/Syrah/peppery bit Rhonish/smokey flavor w/ light astringent/drying tannins; long bit dried out/tangy/metallic/astringent rather smokey/toasty/oak bit Rhonish/roasted/smoked meats finish w/ light astringent/dried-out tannins and a dreadful wet dog fur aftertaste; definitely drying out & little fruit & on its last legs but some interesting things therein.
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2. Jaffurs Syrah StolpmanFamilyVnyd/SBC (14.8%) 1999: Dark/murkey color w/ light browning; very strong smokey/toasty/charred/oak some blackberry/boysenberry/strawberry/Syrah/slight peppery quite Rhonish/smoked pig parts quite complex nose; soft rather blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/ripe/spicy rather Rhonish/roasted meats bit olive tapenade quite complex oldRhonish flavor w/ light smooth/bit drying tannins; very long/lingering smokey/toasty/oak pungent/Rhonish/smoked meats light blackberry/peppery/Syrah/spicy quite complex finish w/ light gentle tannins; starting to dry out a bit on the palate but beautiful Rhonish/complex nose and a pleasure to drink; maybe slightly compromised but still very good shape.
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3. Jaffurs Syrah BienNacidoVnyd/SBC (14.0%) 1999: Very dark color w/ no bricking/browning; very strong black cherry/classic BienNacido/black cherry cola blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry rather smoey/toasty/oak bit Rhonish/olive tapenade/smoked meats very spicy beautiful/complex nose showing a bit more Rhonish character; some tart/tangy very strong blackberry/black cherry cola/BN rather Rhonish/roasted/olive tapenade/smokey rather toasty/smokey/oak flavor w/ light gentle/bit drying tannins; very long/lingering strong classicBN/black cherry cola/blackberry/Syrah smokey/toasty/oak rather Rhonish/olives/roasted meats finish w/ ligh/smooth/bit drying tannins; a beautiful very Rhonish Syrah w/ lots of BN/black cherry character; in lovely shape w/ a slight bit of drying tannins in the backtaste.
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4. Jaffurs Syrah ThompsonVnyd/SBC (14.6%) 1999: Very dark/near black color w/ no bricking; slight earthy very strong blackberry/Syrah/peppery/very spicy/slight jammy some toasty/smokey/oak complex nose w/ slight Rhonish character; bit softer very lush/ripe/jammy some peppery/spicy rather toasty/smokey/Fr.oak very intense blackberry/Syrah slight roasted/Rhonish flavor w/ light smooth bit bitey tannins; very long/lingering very strong/blackberry/Syrah/peppery/very spicy some toasty/smokey/oak slight earthy/peppery finish w/ modest smooth tannins; less Rhonish & more mature Calif Syrah; a beautiful example of a mature Thompson Syrah.
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. As mentioned, these were all from my orphan stash, "stored"/lost in the garage for almost 18 yrs under totally uncontrolled storage temperatures. The wines should have been totally dead&gone, according to conventional wine-geek wisdom. Sometimes conventional wisdom is wrong. The SBC Syrah was in pretty shaky condition & on its last legs. But the three SV -designates were in amazingly good condition. There were no signs of maderized or cooked or damaged character that I could detect. They may have been a bit further along than if stored in pristine conditions, but that's hard to say.
Anyway...the end (I think) of an interesting "experiment".
Tom