Open Mike: Syrah from Sierra Foothills and Yakima Valley.

This could be fun after all the Syrah talk on the forum lately! A sort of California v. Washington taste-off. Whole bunch of wineries out there turning out some good juice but if there is a syrah from another area you want to taste, go ahead!!

Here at Doris Ranch, we will be tasting the Chatter Creek `03 Lonesome Spring Ranch Syrah from the Yakima Valley, alongside the `01 Amador Foothill Syrah from the Sierra Foothills. Stay tuned forumites and get out that syrah you have wanted to taste!

******Other wineries you could consider (from Amador Co.) might include Scott Harvey, Four Vines, Renwood, Folie a Deux, Montevina. Any others, where is Brian?!!

Yakima Valley is not the best site in WA for Syrah grapes with a few exceptions. Fruit from Dick Boushey's vineyards is some of the best, if not the best fruit found in WA.

Thanks Randy for the imput. As I do not have a lot of experience with Washington, thought it might be a good idea to try this!

WTN: `03 Chatter Creek 'Lonesome Spring Ranch' Syrah, Yakima/Columbia Valley Washington.

Opened 2hrs, not decanted. 13.8% alc, natural cork. Only 200 cases made, Gordy Rawson works out of a garage operation, is going places thats for sure.

Colour. Deep purple with thin watery rim. Huge intense centre here.

Nose. Sweet blackberry, aromat herbs, chocolate as it breathes. Could not find any bacon this time around (2nd bottle).

Palate. Initial thought is soft (tannin), ripe fruit, could use more acidity?
Seems to come from a hot region, this is a very lush wine with plenty going on. Plum, cassis, herbal, blackberry, medium bodied.... all pretty smooth. Found some raspberry after 2 hrs and wine really filled out over 24 hrs. Could not believe the transformation, the finish is more developed and shows more grip. Ok, its not the ultimate experience but I like it. On to the Amador tomorrow.

Cost was $25.00 Cdn.
Prime Rib dinner.

I will open the Sogno a friend gave me tomorrow. It's from El Dorado, I believe. Don't have any Yakima Syrahs in my cellar. ( I think I have maybe three bottles of wine total from Washington. It's a West Coast parochialism thing If I'm going to have a West Coast wine, it's gonna be from home )

Bumping up, but gonna open my Amador Foothill Syrah shortly!

I need to open my Sogno, still. If I can find it, I'll bring it to a wine party on Saturday. I got "distracted" by the Tokai I drank earlier in the week, then by the Wine Styles Italian tasting on Tuesday.

Another very nice winery from the Sierra Foothills is Cedarville... very nice Syrahs.. plus lots of other nice wines (we had an 01 Cab that was amazing). It's one of my favorite QPR wineries...

Another very nice winery from the Sierra Foothills is Cedarville... very nice Syrahs.. plus lots of other nice wines (we had an 01 Cab that was amazing). It's one of my favorite QPR wineries...

Agreed. Will open one tonight if I get the chance.


Mike

As much as I enjoyed the Chatter Creek, this Syrah from Amador Foothill had something just a little bit more special (not exactly a good choice of words but hard to explain). See tasting notes can be difficult at times!!

WTN: `01 Syrah Barrel Select, Amador Foothill-Sierra Foothills, Calif.

Opened 2hrs, not decanted. good natural cork, 14.5% alc, 300 cases produced. Believe this wine has only recently been released by the winery?

Colour. Medium depth centre, purple verges quite pale on the rim.

Nose. Earthy, spice, bacon sandwich. Blackberry comes gushing out of the glass even after 2 hrs of pouring. Nice!

Palate. Initial thought was this has more depth and grip than the Chatter Creek. Really fruit driven, good length, nice effort here. Dusty earthy tannins, tons of black fruits....blackberry, black cherry and blueberry. Second time I have tasted this wine, I am a big fan of this winery. The owner made the effort to visit us last year, cool guy.
Portfolio includes a sangiovese and some zins, this cost around $27 Cdn.

**** after 24 hrs, nose still great but finish has turned a tad astringent. Could probably use some food, last night I had a grilled NY Steak.

As mentioned before Amador Foothills trys to make Amador wines to match the WLD group type taste. Scott Harvey says he does as well. You could use the same relative description for many Amador Foothill wines.

Obscurity Cellars, Busby, Holly Hill, Sierra Vista also have good Syrahs from El Dorado County.

There are two separate wineries in Berkeley that make them, too!

The Terre Rouge is in storage locker (I gotta improve my record keeping!), so I opened the 2004 Sogno from El Dorado Hills last night.

Splash decanted briefly at the very beginning of the evening, this wine had some time to sit open in the bottle before we all got to it.

Decent, but not exciting. Nice purple black with some red to the edges color, with a reticent nose. The palette was blackberry, maybe a little coffee and leather. Not exciting, but very smooth, the wine handled the alcohol and tannins well. Quite nice. ** This was a gift, but the listed retail price was $19. It's probably worth that. http://www.sognowinery.com/

[quote="Bob Parsons Alberta."]

WTN: `01 Syrah Barrel Select, Amador Foothill-Sierra Foothills, Calif.

Opened 2hrs, not decanted. good natural cork, 14.5% alc, 300 cases produced. Believe this wine has only recently been released by the winery?

Bob, I used to pour wine in Ben and Katie's tasting room before I moved to the Puget Sound area. I might be able to add a little insight, although my information might not be as reliable as when I was in closer touch.

I think the '01 has been in release for some time. I brought some '02 home with me when I paid a visit a few weeks back, so that's the current release. Also, I may have misinterpreted what I heard when I visited them a few weeks ago, but I think the days may be numbered for straight Syrah from AFW. There's definitely the '02 and maybe an '03 (I'm not sure) but after that, I don't know. That's because their Grenache plantings have started producing and they really like the results of the Syrah/Grenache blends they've dubbed "Katie's Cote", so much so that I think they're at least considering discontinuing the Syrah.

The thing I'm most intrigued about is their Aglianico plantings, just starting to produce. They just made a very limited release (one barrel's worth) from their first harvest in 2005. I've tasted few enough Italian examples of that varietal that I'm frankly not sure what Aglianico is supposed to taste like but I brought the few bottles Katie would part with north with me and I'll be interested to see what they've done.

Opened the '02 Cedarville Syrah to go with braised lamb shanks, favas, and roasted potatoes. Paid somewhere around $23 for it, and it comes in at 14.3% alcohol.

Color is the appropriate red-black. Aromas of blackberry, toast, damp earth jump out of the glass, take total command of your body, and demand that you take a sip. Initially, the blackberry dominates, with some roasted meat and earthiness. As the wine sits open, though, the berry flavors subside a bit and everything balances out. The mouthfeel is full and somewhat viscous, the oak is not overdone, and there's some good acidity to keep things lively. Tannins are minimal. There is a bit of alcoholic warmth to it. Not enough to turn me off, but if you're sensitive to such things you may find it a flaw. (Ours was probably served a bit warmer than optimal, though.)
Overall, an excellent wine to go with braised lamb. Actually, as I type this, the glass is on the desk under my nose. I just want to keep it there, sort of like those addicts that stick the tube of glue under their noses. (OK, not the most poetic of images, but....)


Mike