Tried this last night w/ Barolo-braised beef:
1. EaglePointRanchWnry Syrah MendocinoCnty (13.9%; http://www.EaglePointRanch.com) 2001: Black color; some pungent/toasty/oak plummy/blackberry/Syrah bit dusty/minerally/gamey rather spicy/peppery very interesting nose; tart some tannic toasty/spicy/pungent/smokey/oaked strong blackberry/blueberry/acai minerally/dusty rich/mouthfilling flavor; long bit hard/tannic very strong blackberry/acai/Syrah spicy/peppery/minerally finish; great structure & power and needs another few yrs.
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Casey deserves a BloodyPulpit:
1. This wine is, of course, from our very own CaseyHartlip, farmer extraordinare of both pigs and grapes. This is the first of his Syrahs we bought in any quantity and haven't tried it in several yrs. It's starting to develop some secondary characteristics now in the btl. But it still has plenty of power and structure and will probably go another 6-8 yrs I'd guess. One of the best, maybe the best, Mendocino Syrahs I've yet had, as good as any anywhere in Calif.
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2. Acai: This is a fruit that grows down in SouthAmerica (Brazil) that started appearing in this country as a frozen puree several yrs ago. I just noticed it at WholePaycheck last week in a bttld fruit juice drink form and tried several of them. Very intriguing flavor. I've made some killer gelatos from the puree w/ cracked black pepper added.
So this is probably going to become one of the Nation's trendy artisinally-grown fruits I expect in the near future. TomHill and trendy are not two words you seldom see together, though. Xpect Casey is probably getting ready to put in some acai at EaglePoint right now...though suspect it doesn't feel much like Brazil up there right now!!
Tom