Tried these 5 over the last week:
1. Novy Syrah DryCreekVlly (14.3%) 2006: Med.dark color w/ some bricking; some toasty/pencilly/Siduri oak slight raspberry/DryCreekVlly/blackberry/Syrah rather tired nose; soft rather tangy/metallic some pencilly/Siduri oak light blackberry/raspberry/Syrah rather tired/dried-out flavor w/ light metallic/dried-out/astringent tannins; long soft quite tangy/metallic/tired light Syrah/blackberry finish w/ tired/astringent tannins; a Syrah well beyond its prime but not at all ozidized.
______________
2. Novy Syrah SapphireHillVnyd/RRV (14.1%) 2006: Med.dark color w/ some bricking; some toasty/Siduri oak some blackberry/Syrah/peppery/spicy bit complex somewhat interesting nose; soft rather metallic/tangy strong toasty/Siduri oak/pencilly rather dried-out/tired flavor w/ light drying/astringent tannins; very long strong pencilly/Siduri oak slight blackberry/Syrah/peppery rather dried-out/metallic/tired/astringent finish; a some interesting Syrah nose but pretty tired/dried-out on the palate.
______________
3. Novy Syrah Rosella'sVnyd/SantaLuciaHighlands (14.5%) 2004: Dark rather murky/brown color; strong cedary/pencilly/Siduri oak slight blackberry/Syrah somewhat tired/dried-out nose; lightly tart some cedary/pencilly/oak pretty tangy/metallic rather tired/dried-out flavor w/ light astringent tannins; pretty tired/dried-out/dead&gone.
______________
4. Solminer Vollmond deLandaVnyd/SantaYnezVlly (13%; 97% Syrah/3% Blaufrankisch; www.Solminer.com) Lompoc 2013: Med.dark color; strong spicy/herbal/Syrah/blackberry bit earthy light pencilly/oak rather interesting nose; quite tart/tangy bit lean/metallic light blackberry/Syrah/spicy/herbal rather wired/coiled bit eviscerated flavor w/ light tangy tannins; long light/herbal/Syrah/blackberry/peppery quite tart/tangy rather lean/bit eviscerated finish w/ light tangy tannins; not quite as lean/spare/eviscerated as Arnot-Roberts but doesn't give a lot of pleasure; don't see this aging into anything interesting; not a style that I like so much.
______________
5. Carlisle Syrah Rosella'sVnyd/SantaLuciaHighlands (14.5%) 2004: Very dark/near black color w/ no bricking; very intense blackberry/Syrah/ripe some herbal/peppery/c-c/very spicy strong toasty/oak/smokey slight earthy/dusty rather complex nose; fairly tart/tangy big/rich/lush very strong blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah rather toasty/smokey/oak some herbal/c-c/peppery light Rhonish/roasted rather complex flavor w/ some drying tannins; very long/lingering intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/ripe some toasty/smokey/Fr.oak bit peppery/c-c/herbal/Rhonish finish w/ light ripe tannins; a lovely expression of SLH Syrah but probably not going to get any better.
___________________________
A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. I was a bit surprised as to how far gone the Novy Syrahs were. They had loads of fruit in their youth, but it had pretty much all gone by now. A Carlisle/Jaffurs/Ojai would not be so far gone at this age.
Tom