TN: 2001 Edmunds St. John Bassetti Syrah

2001 Edmunds St. John San Luis Obispo Syrah Bassetti Vineyard, 13.7% alc.: Skip Telgard, the owner of Leland, Michigan’s Bluebird Restaurant opened this slightly cloudy dark garnet Syrah for us during a recent visit to that fine establishment. It shows a slightly barnyard-y nose of leathery black plum and blackberry shaded with hints of iodine, following through on the palate with more of the same characteristics, both earthy and rich at the same time. Full bodied, with big structure, but very smooth and accessible with some air, as more leather emerges in the flavor profile. Pure beautiful California Syrah, permeated with Steve Edmunds’ fine touch, it shows great promise for further development, so drink or hold.

- from A Mess o' Reds

Reporting from Day-twah,

geo t.

I had my first bottle of this last week, and would agree with most of your notes (although I have no idea what iodine smells like!).

Unfortunately, I overcooked the london broil that it was meant to accompany; otherwise it would have been a very lovely meal.

Fortunately the wine was so enjoyable that we were able to overlook the beef, and the syrah went surprisingly well with a salad afterwards of spinach, tomatoes, and avacado w/ a balsamic vinagrette dressing.

George,
Thanks for the TN. I have the '01 and the '03 sitting in my cellar waiting. From all the info I hear it would be best to wait a while before opening althogh yours sounded good right now. I really like serving Steve's wines next to N Rhone wines. They are slightly more new world but most of the time equal or exceed the N Rhone wine and very conistent.
Walt

I had my first bottle of this last week, and would agree with most of your notes (although I have no idea what iodine smells like!).

Unfortunately, I overcooked the london broil that it was meant to accompany; otherwise it would have been a very lovely meal.

Fortunately the wine was so enjoyable that we were able to overlook the beef, and the syrah went surprisingly well with a salad afterwards of spinach, tomatoes, and avacado w/ a balsamic vinagrette dressing.

Better to have overcooked the london broil than this lovely wine, IMNSHO...

Thanks for the feedback, K!

2001 Edmunds St. John San Luis Obispo Syrah Bassetti Vineyard, 13.7% alc.: Skip Telgard, the owner of Leland, Michigan’s Bluebird Restaurant opened this slightly cloudy dark garnet Syrah for us during a recent visit to that fine establishment. It shows a slightly barnyard-y nose of leathery black plum and blackberry shaded with hints of iodine, following through on the palate with more of the same characteristics, both earthy and rich at the same time. Full bodied, with big structure, but very smooth and accessible with some air, as more leather emerges in the flavor profile. Pure beautiful California Syrah, permeated with Steve Edmunds’ fine touch, it shows great promise for further development, so drink or hold.

- from A Mess o' Reds

Reporting from Day-twah,

geo t.

George, I have a six pack of this wine, and have talked with Steve about it. He says it is a 20-30 year wine. At 69, I am not sure I have the time for all six of them, but I sure hope so. I doubt that I will even try one for a few years yet.

George,
Thanks for the TN. I have the '01 and the '03 sitting in my cellar waiting. From all the info I hear it would be best to wait a while before opening althogh yours sounded good right now. I really like serving Steve's wines next to N Rhone wines. They are slightly more new world but most of the time equal or exceed the N Rhone wine and very conistent.
Walt

Walt, here's an offhand recollection of one of our more memorable experiences with an Edmunds St. John wine. Our colleague Alan Kerr, aka Canadian Zinfan, in his infinite wiz-dom picked up a bottle of an ESJ red on close-out that obviously had some years on it during one of our annual sojourns in Toledo, but it had lost all indication of vintage on back and front. I don’t know why ’97 sticks in my mind, it may have been on the computer generated invoice, which of course was discarded, but I think it also may have been a Les Cotes Sauvages. Whatever the case, we cracked it one night a few years ago along with a 1999 E. Guigal Chateauneuf du Pape, the so-called ” 2002 Wine of the Year,” according to one influential wine publication. The short story is this: the Kerr-dog and I weren’t bothering with taking notes that evening, but the ESJ was a dead ringer for something from the southern Rhone, all earthy and leathery and just a real treat to drink, while the Guigal was a very plain, ordinary red that showed very little in the way of Chateauneuf du Pape character.

I’d offer the qualification that the Guigal may have been an off bottle, although it saw perfect storage on release (I got it at the original Michigan price of $34.99 from a retailer with a temp-controlled cellar), but I’ve read more than a few similar impressions regarding this one. I guess my point here is that “Wine of the Year” awards can be suspect (can you say Cinq Cepages, boys and girls?), while Steve Edmunds quietly goes along making excellent wines that may not win many awards, but continue to make friends and devoted fans along the way.

Consider us among the latter.

Just my 2 oz.,

geo

George, I have a six pack of this wine, and have talked with Steve about it. He says it is a 20-30 year wine. At 69, I am not sure I have the time for all six of them, but I sure hope so. I doubt that I will even try one for a few years yet.

No reason to open one any time soon, Bob...

...

...

...

...unless you want to.

I'd never doubt Steve's judgement, but I'd be opening one of these on its 10th birthday just to see how it's progressing. Let us know when, we'll be down.

[David M. Bueker]

Bob,

I've had the 2001 version 4 or 5 times, and while I am sure it will have enormous staying power I see no reason to keep totally hands off if you have a bunch. A couple of hours in the decanter is this wine's friend, but after that it gives grat pleasure.

Now if you're talking the 2003 or 2005 I would be hands off for at least another 5-10 years (not that I have that kind of restraint).

Mine are the 2005 vintage, and Going by Steve's advice, I will allow at least a couple more years before opening one...maybe around 2010 for the first one. I intend to live to 100 so I might get to taste them all.

[David M. Bueker]

Mine are the 2005 vintage

That makes all the difference. I'm waiting on mine as well.