WTN: "Older" Anthill Farms Sonoma Coast Syrah

[David M. Bueker]

• 2010 Anthill Farms Syrah Sonoma Coast - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast (5/25/2020)
  $18 wine at ten years of age, and my gosh what value for the money. It's no monster, but I wasn't expecting one. It's still showing some deep, dark cherry fruit, but in a balanced way. The acidity is on point, and there's a hint of orange zest on the finish. A little bit of spice creeps in on the finish, just to add a hint of complexity. Still have five more bottles from a long ago case purchase, and I am glad to have them.

Have had some good luck with aging Syrah. Recently, a Kingston, Casablanca Valley, Chile was great at 8 years. Same for a Barrel 27 2012, Santa Barbara. An 11 year-old Coquelicot, Happy Canyon. Even an 11 year old Jip Jip Rocks, Shiraz, Limestone Coast that was bottled under screwcap. Thought for sure that one would be past prime. We don't think that it was. So I found a more recent vintage at TW ... out of curiosity.

[David M. Bueker]

Why would you think a screw capped wine would thus be past its prime? I don’t know the specific wine, and so don’t know if it was intended as a drink now bottling.

The Shiraz was enjoyed about 5 years ago. At the time, it seemed there was more debate on impact of corks vs. synthetic corks vs. various screwcaps. I'd read the George Taber book, To Cork or Not to Cork and numerous blogs/articles.

So I just wondered if the wine would age well. And it had.

Now it seems that many more screwcap options are out there. And I see more and more vintners bottling under screwcap only or in part. Stelvin seems very prevalent in the wines I'm receiving.

Personally, I like screwcaps for ease of use. And after struggling with many aged/broken corks, it is convenient.

Just a geek's humble impressions and opinion. Your mileage may vary.

[David M. Bueker]

Thanks for your perspective. I have been pro-screwcap for over 15 years. Sadly the market has moved more slowly. DIAM corks have also been a positive.

Took a quick look at some of my screwcap wines. Tablas Creek, Niner, Bedrock all appear to have a type of Stelvin. Some say Stelvin Lux, some just Stelvin. Some other wines have no brand on the screwcap. The 2014 Jip Jip Rocks is also Stelvin. The earlier Jip Jip Rocks we had was 2005 vintage.

My experience with Diam and other synthetics has been inconsistent. Some are quite easy to remove, others not so much. But that's the same for real corks....enough from me on the topic.

[David M. Bueker]

DIAM is not tough to removed. Some of the newer cork replacements are near impossible. The one based on sugarcane is a PITA to get out of a bottle.

[Jenise]

Pat, New Zealand and Australia have long been fans of screwcap for ecological purposes, even on wines considered ageable. IOW, elsewhere on the planet it's not the indicator of cheap wine that it generally remains in the U.S.

Back in the 70's Joe Swan bottle the same pinot under screwcap, crown cap and cork for long term study. Over a period of like 30 years he and his son in law opened sets of them at various points. If I recall the story correctly, cork fared the worst. Cork isn't the preferred closure because its the best, it's preferred because it's the most romantic and screwcap can't shed its Thunderbird image.