Tried these two wines last night:
1. Stekar rebula Ziva Vina (14.0%; www.VinaStekar.Si; BonVivantImprts/Boise/ID) Stekar Jure/Snezatno/Slovenia 2020: Deep golden/burnished bronze rather cloudy color; strong phenolic/resiny/VinoMacerati/skin-contact slight RG/peppery some earthy/cidery rather complex nose; quite tart/tangy/metallic strong phenolic/very cidery/resiny/VM slight RG/peppery some earthy quite austere/tannic totally dry slightly bitter slight nutty/oxidative some complex flavor w/ some tannic bite; quite tart/tangy quite dry rather austere/tannic strong VM/phenolic/resiny/cidery slight RG/peppery slight oxidative bit complex finish w/ some tannic bite; as it warms up, the nose develops a slight graham cracker/honey grahams character; not very pleasant to drink now as pretty austere on the palate & dominated by the VM/skin-contact character; needs some 5-10 yrs to develop some nuances. $20.00 (AV)
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2. Donkey & Goat Syrah ViellesVignes Mendocino (13.7%; U) 2007: Dark bit murkysome browning color; some blackberry/Syrah/bit peppery slight dusty/OV strong cedary/pencilly/oldRed rather complex slight Rhonish nose; lightly tart light blackberry/spicy/Syrah fairly dusty/OV some Rhonish/roasted/graphite fairly strong cedary/pencilly/oldRed bit tired flavor w/ light gentle bit drying tannins; very long rather cedary/pencilly/oldRed bit tired/dried out light spicy/peppery/Syrah light Rhonish/roasted complex finish w/ light drying tannins; show some tired/dried out character but still somewhat interesting expression of old Calif Syrah; clearly on the downside but still interesting & offering up some pleasure; not at all totally dead but clinging to life.
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More bittlesnarf from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. The D&G Syrah came from the GibsonRanch in the McDowellVlly. Lots of old-vine Syrah in there. Some of the best Calif Syrahs ever, made by George Bursik at McDowellVlly Vnyds, came from that vnyd. It was originally identified as PetiteSirah, but DNA showed it to be Syrah...some of the earliest plantings of Syrah in Calif.
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2. Stekar: This wine was totally dominated by the VM character. Served cold, it is so austere & tannic as to be painful to drink. It really needs to be served at room temperature. But it should age into something pretty interesting.
Stekar is a natural wine producer, but doesn't wear it onhis sleeve. His wines show no natty character whatsoever.
There is another Stekar (brother?) who makes wine in the same village, just up the road a bit. His wines are also quite good.
Tom