Had these two earlier in the week:
1. OjaiVnyd Syrah MelvilleVnyds/SantaRitaHills (14.5%) OakView 2007: Very dark color/no bricking; very strong blackberry/Syrah/black cherry cola some cold-climate/cracked pepper/licorice bit Rhonish/roasted meats some toasty/smokey/Fr.oak some complex nose; rather tart rich/ripe/blackberry/Syrah/licorice some c-c/black pepper/pungent strong toasty/smokey/oak flavor w/ light hard tannins; very long rather tart/hard very strong spicy/blackberry/black cherry cola strong charred/smokey/oak bit Rhonish/smoked meats finish w/ light hard/rough tannins; a fairly classic middle-aged Ojai Syrah; tannins are pretty hard & fruit may not outlive the tannins.
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2. OjaiVnyd Syrah ThompsonVnyd/SBC (14.5%) 2007: Very dark color; very strong very spicy/blackberry/boysenberry/ripe Syrah slight peppery/Thompson light toasty/smokey/oak classic SBC Syrah somewhat complex nose; somewhat soft/ripe/rich/lush very strong blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry slight root beer/RCCola light toasty/oak bit Thompson peppery rather balanced/structured some toasty/oak flavor w/ light smooth/ripe tannins; very long/lingering ripe/lush very strongblackberry/Syrah/boysenberry light toasty/smokey/oak finish w/ some smooth/ripe tannins; a classic rich/ripe Thompson Syrah that's probably about prime-time.
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Yet another tiresome BloodyPulpit:
1. The Melville has always been one of my favorites of Adam's Syrahs. He takes the only Syrah from Melville (other than Melville themselves) from the SantaRitaHills block. The Melville's planted Verna's Vnyd up LosAlams way and some label their Syrah as "Melville" when it comes from this vnyd, others use "Verna's". It usually displays a lot of the cracked black pepper you get from c-c Syrah grapes. Thompson typically has a bit of a peppery character but it is a slightly different kind of pepperiness, one that's broader across the palate.
When I had the Melville Tues night, I was struch how hard/unyielding/rough were the tannins & made me doubt for its future vis a vis the Thompson. But after it set on the counter overnight & I tried it the next morning w/ my PostToasties, the tannins seemed to have softened considerably. And the c-c/peppery still came thru loud & clear.
Tom
