Our case of Darren's wines came in early last week & so I tried this weekend:
1. Delmore PinotNoir EdenRiftVnyd/CienegaVlly/CentralCoast (13%; 14 brls; www.DarrenDelmore.com; Wild frmtd; U) DarrenDelmore/PasoRobles 2020: Med.light color; some pencilly/toasty/Fr.oak bright cherry/PN/spicy light earthy/smokey quite attractive nose; fairly tart bright/cherry/spicy/cherry pie/PN light toasty/pencilly/oak slight earthy balanced/drinkable flavor w/ light gentle tannins; very long some pencilly/toasty/Fr.oak tart/tangy bright cherry/cherry pie/PN/spicy bit earthy/dusty finish w/ light tannins; quite a pretty PN that is balanced & drinkable & will benefit from a few yrs; shows a lot of that juicy character you get from CienegaVlly wines. $30.00
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2. DarrenDelmore Syrah StoloVnyd/CentralCoast (13.4%; 2 brls; U; 3'rd vintage; 5% Viognier) PasoRobles 2019: Very dark/near black color; beautiful very spicy/cold-climate Syrah/black pepper very spicy/blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry quite smokey/Rhonish/roasted meats some peppery/whole-cluster frmt quite complex terrific nose; quite tart/tangy strong w-c/peppery/very c-c Syrah/black pepper/very spicy intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/floral/violets light toasty/oak very Rhonish/roasted/smoked meats/smoked bacon very complex beautiful flavor w/ ample chewey tannins; very long/lingering intense blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry/very spicy very strong w-c/c-c Syrah/peppery roasted meats/Rhonish very complex finish w/ ample tannins; a beautiful c-c Syrah at a great price; one of the best Calif Syrahs I've had this yr; needs 2-6 yrs yet; stunning stuff. $40.00
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. DarrenDelmore is the National Marketing Director for Tablas Creek and a nationally-acclaimed author. He makes a small amount of wine on the side.
The StoloFamilyVnyd is located just East of Cambria, where Darren lives. It is certifiably one of the coldest-climate Syrah vnyds in all Calif. I was a fan early on when I fell in love w/ the cold-climate Bassetti Syrahs and found out this was even colder. StoloFamily wines has sorta fallen off my radar & I need to revisit them.
This is Darren's 3'rd vintage of Stolo Syrah & to my judgement best of them yet. Calif c-c Syrah doesn't get any better than this.
Tom