Steve Costigan hosted a few of us last night to taste some high-end Syrahs:
1. Jaffurs Syrah BienNacidoVnyd/SantaBarbaraCnty (15.0%) 2013: Very dark color; very strong smokey/toasty/oak strong black cherry/Syrah/ripe/boysenberry some c-c/black pepper some w-c/peppery beautiful quite complex nose; lightly tart slight funky/oxidative very strong black cherry/boysenberry/Syrah/very spicy some c-c/black pepper strong toasty/smokey/oak rather complex flavor w/ modest chewey tannins; very long strong black cherry/Syrah/c-c/w-c/peppery some smokey/toasty/oak finish w/ modest chewey tannins; starting to dry out a bit but a classic Jaffurs BN Syrah; still might improve some but the tannins may never fully resolve.
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2. PaxMahle Syrah SonomaHillsides SonomaCnty (12.8%; U/U*; 100% whole-cluster; 11 mo. in neutral oak; Castelli-KnightRanch/GriffenLair/WalkerHill vnyds) Forestville 2016: Very dark color; very strong classic w-c/peppery quite Rhonish/roasted very strong black olive tapenade/c-c slight black pepper/c-c some blackberry/Syrah/spicy quite complex nose; fairly tart very strong w-c/Rhonish/peppery/roasted very strong blackberry/Syrah/spicy strong toasty/Fr.oak some black olive tapenade quite complex flavor w/ light tangy tannins; very long/lingering black olive tapenade/w-c/peppery some c-c/black pepper rather Rhonish/roasted complex finish w/ light tannins; quite an interesting very Rhonish Syrah.
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3. OjaiVnyds SolomonHillsVnyd SantaMariaVlly Special Bttlg (13.5%; 5 brls) 2013: Very dark color; rather aged smokey/toasty/Fr.oak rather blackberry/Syrah/spicy fairly complex bit tired nose; lightly tart rather toasty/Fr.oak strong blackberry/Syrah/spicy bit underwhelming flavor w/ light bit drying tannins; med.long strong blackberry/Syrah/spicy/slight peppery light earthy strong oasty/Fr.oak bit drying out finish w/ light tannins; a fairly classic mature Ojai Syrah but starting to fade & not particularly exciting.
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4. ChristopheBaron Syrah BionicFrog WallaWallaVlly (13.8%; www.CayusVineyards.com) 2011: Very dark cxolor; rather herbal/green olive/black olive tapenade/Syrah/very spicy msome smokey/Rhonish/roasted/smoked meats/bloody coffee ripe licorice/boysenberry beautiful cfomplex nose; lightly tart intense blackberry/boysenberry/ripe/Syrah/very spicy very Rhonish/smokey/smoked meats black olive tapenade very complex beautiful flavor w/ modest tangy tannins; very long/lingering herbal/green olive/black olive tapenade/c-c intense blackberry/boysenberry/very spicy/Syrah quite Rhonish/smoked meats/roasted/rather w-c finish w/ modest bit itey tannins; a very unusual very Rhonish expression of WashState Syrah; beautiful complex Syrah that can go on for more yrs.
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5. JohnAlban Syrah Pandora Seymore'sVnyd/EdnaVlly (14.5%) AlbanVnyds/ArroyoGrande 1999: Very dark color; intense charred/burnt/toasty/Fr.oak intense boysenberry/ripe/blackberry/Syrah/Grenache strawberry bit reduced/pungent rather complex nose; quite tart/tangy very intense smokey/charred/burnt/Fr.oak intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah flavor w/ ample chewey/ripe tannins; very long/lingering very intense charred/burnt/toasty/oak intense boysenberry/ripe/blackberry/Syrah/Grenache strawberry very structured finish w/ ample chewey tannins; typical Alban evolving at a glacial pace; still loads of intense fruit & may never develop into anything very complex; pretty classic expression of Alban Syrah.
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Steve put together this small tasting of some high-end Syrahs he wanted to try. The Jaffurs Steve threw in to sort of give a baseline Calif Syrah, but it was really developing into quite a nice wine. The Ojai was a SpecialBttlg wine that I found a bit disappointing, but the SolomonHills Syrah has always been an under-performer in the Ojai lineup. But the BionicFrog was the star of the show & a very impressive wine.
Thanks for sharing these, Steve.
Tom