Decided to crack one of these this weekend:
1. Bedrock Syrah BienNacidoVnyd/X-Block/SantaMariaVlly (13.0%) 2019: Very dark color; very strong blackberry/Syrah bit c-c/black pepper strong w-c/Rhonish/roasted/pungent rather complex nose; quite tart/tangy strong w-c/Rhonish/pungent strong blackberry/BN black cherry some toasty/oak light c-c/black pepper quite structured rather complex flavor w/ ample chewey tannins; very long/lingering strong blackberry/spicy/Syrah strong w-c/Rhonish/pungent light toasty/oak bit c-c/peppery somewhat rough/rustic quite structured some complex finish w/ ample hard tannins; not a classic Bedrock Syrah in style; reminds a lot of a rugged Clape Cornas but not as NRhonish; a pretty rugged/structured wine on the palate that badly needs 5-10-15 yrs of age & may never outlive the tannins; I prefer the Lindquist X-Block as more polished and not as dominated by the w-c. $48.00
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. This was the first time Morgan was able to get BN X-Block grapes. This block is down on the flats of BN on the SE edge where the flats start to rise up onto the hillside. It was planted to own-rooted Riesling in '73 and grafted over to Estrella clone Syrah in '87, making it one of the oldest Syrah plantings in SantaBarbaraCnty. Somewhat of a shame, because Bob&Jim made a number of extra-ordinary Thumbs-Up botrytized R from those grapes. These grapes have previously gone to BobLindquist and RandallGrahm. I suspect Randall no longer gets them since his sale of BonnyDoon. It is one of the truly great c-c Syrah vnyds in Calif.
This is a very structured Syrah w/ rugged tannins on the palate. Generally, Morgans Syrahs are pretty drinkable from release. This one is not & badly needs age.
Tom