We included this rarity in our Syrah tasting at Pig+Fig on Wed:
1. SineQuaNon Raven #3 Calif Syrah (15.5%; 5% Grenache, 2% Viognier) 2006: Very dark color w/ little bricking; slight reductive/pungent at first rather Alban-like very strong toasty/charred/oak fairly blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry/very ripe some complex nose; bit soft very strong ripe/blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah strong toasty/charre/oak bit ozone/reductive/pungent some complex flavor w/ some smooth/graceful tannins; very long/lingering very strong blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/very ripe but not overripe strong toasty/charred/oak slight complex finish w/ some smooth/round tannins; still loads of Syrah fruit & charred oak and the tannins pretty much fully resolved but don't seeing this ever develop the complexity you routinely get in a Lindquist or EdStJohn Syrah. $144.00
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. This was actually a better Syrah than I expected. Like most of the Albans, it retains its intense fruit forever and, in this case, the tannins are fully resolved. But it's never going to have the complexity that you'd like I suspect.
This was my last purchase from SQN. The wines were just getting too pricey for my blood, like the Albans. Shortly after purchase, I made some comment on a WineBoard that Manfred took offense to & was summarily dropped from the SQN mailing list. After I missed the next offering, I wrote Manfred explaining what my comment meant & he was accepting of that & offered to put me back on my high place on his mailing list. But I demurred, explaining that his wines deserved to go to those who feel their manhood is diminished by not being able to buy SQN wines. Thus far, my manhood has not suffered that greatly.
The best line of the night came from Linda Deck: "Quoth the Raven/Pour Some More".
Tom