Had friends over on Fri to share two Calif Syrahs:
1. Carlisle Syrah SonomaCnty (15.8%; 125 cs) 1999: Very dark color w/ slight bricking; very strong blackberry/Syrah/chocolaty/licorice some alcoholic some toasty/oak fairly perfumed/loads of fruit nose; rather fumey/alcoholic intense blackberry/boysenberry/chocolaty/ripe Syrah fairly toasty/oak flavor w/ light some drying tannins; very long/lingering intense blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry some toasty/oak some fumey finish w/ light drying tannins; still loads of Syrah fruit but alcohol coming to the forefront and not going to get better; drink up.
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2. Failla Syrah EstateVnyd/Ft.Ross-Seaview (13.9%; www.FaillaWines.com) 2014: Very dark/black color; very strong blackberry/boysenberry/ripe Syrah/very spicy rather c-c/black pepper bit Rhonish/roasted bit complex beautiful nose; fairly tart intense blackberry/Syrah/very spicy some Rhonish/c-c/black pepper some pencilly/oak bit espresso slight earthy/dusty bit complex beautiful flavor w/ modest ripe tannins; very long/lingering intense blackberry/spicy/ripe Syrah finish w/ modest tannins; a beautiful example of a c-c Calif Syrah; can still use a few more yrs but beautiful right now.
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Two really beautiful Syrahs. The Carlisle is starting to show some alcohol but no overripe or pruney character. The Failla is about as good as it gets for a c-c Calif Syrah.
Tom