WTN: Whooping Crane

[David M. Bueker]

• 2019 John Anthony Vineyards Syrah Crane Vineyard - USA, California, Napa Valley, Oak Knoll District (11/3/2023)
  Dad passed nine months ago, and I was thinking about him while listening to ESPN trash the current state of the Green Bay Packers (my dad’s favorite team from his time on college in Wisconsin in the early 1960s). Figured it was time to pull a bottle that I had brought home from his cellar.
  
  Dad was never much of a fan of Syrah, so it never made sense to me that he bought a fair amount of it. He bought a ton of John Anthony Cabernet Sauvignon, so maybe this was just a “what the heck” purchase from a winery he really liked.
  
  He would have liked this wine. My first thoughts were that it reminded me a lot of the Riverain Syrahs, which dad also bought. On the bigger, riper side, it still had space for some of the savory elements to poke through. It started with a big hit of blackberry fruit - ripe but not syrupy. The mid-palate added some smoke and leather notes. Not a ton of tannin, or maybe just buried under all that black fruit. I kept 1/3 of the bottle to check on another evening. Dad and I would have no doubt finished the bottle, especially if he had grilled some steaks.