WTN: Bassetti? Nope, Barsotti.

[David M. Bueker]

2014 Edmunds St. John Syrah Barsotti Ranch - USA, California, Sierra Foothills, El Dorado County (8/22/2018)
The Edmunds St. John Syrah journey has been a wandering path. It moved through winemaking facilities, as well as vineyards. The one constant has been Steve. His style has evolved over the 30+ years, but has always been on the unvarnished end of the spectrum. The grape and the site allowed to shine through.

So it’s no surprise that the 2014 Barsotti Ranch Syrah is Syrah without makeup. Barely medium bodied, it’s limber and constantly in motion. Upon first opening it appears fresh, crunchy and uncomplicated. Twenty four hours later the layers appear. Savory compliments fruity. Earthy and menthol elements persist on the finish. Forward and inviting now, it will likely age as ESJ Syrah always has, long and with great profit.

Interesting that you should post this just now, David. I recently (couple weeks back) opened a bottle of this wine, having not had it for a number of months, and found that I(finally!) recognized
the wine from a point early in its elévage, when it seemed to be on track to become what I anticipated at the point at which I decided it was ready to pick, just about four years ago.

This is the first Syrah I've worked with from vines grown in granite, and at a point shortly before it was picked, I tasted something in the fruit that I hadn't encountered in any other Syrah I've worked with: a taste of iron that suggested a kind of backbone unlike that in any of the other fruit sources I'd used. (At Bassetti, the backbone was super low pH/very high acidity) When I tasted a couple of weeks ago, all the classic traits of Syrah seemed finally to have come out of hiding: the smoke, the olives, the pepper and so on. It's still fierce, despite its low alcohol, and does, indeed, seem ready for the long haul.

[David M. Bueker]

Thanks for the insight Steve. I thought this was stellar on night two. Good incentive to let the other bottles rest a while.