Edmunds St. John 1993 Syrah Durell (Sonoma Valley) Glacially-cellared, and this was in mind as we opened the wine, because in retrospect Im not sure Ive ever had a Durell syrah that I thought was fully mature. This one gave its best effort, though, and is the closest Ive come. Very masculine, all rippling muscles and five oclock shadow, wrapping dark blackberry residue in leather and tarnished metal buckles. Lingers, a very long while. Very, very good. (8/10)
Tablas Creek 2005 Syrah (Paso Robles) Burly but not overbearing, loading up the wagon with blackberries and blueberries, leather, roasted nuts, and rich California ripeness. Theres earth and baritone to this wine, and its balanced and structured enough to reward a fair bit of cellaring, I think. (8/10)
Tablas Creek 2006 Ctes de Tablas Blanc (Paso Robles) The bronzed stone fruit has not diminished in intensity since release, but it has taken on a deeper, richer tone, the metallics have been somewhat energized, and theres more soil in evidence. This is a heavy wine in the grand scheme, though decidedly not so in its local idiom, and is still quite luscious and even a little blowsy. Im convinced that age will continue to turn this wine, but those who require upfront fruit may want to think about drinking sooner rather than later. (9/10)
Qup 2007 Syrah (Central Coast) Purple fun. Fruity and only a little bit frooty, with fruit and a side of fruit. Finishes fruity. And despite all this (did I mention fruit?), its actually syrah-like. In a way, this is what California should be best at. Only they shouldnt charge four or five times what Qup is charging for thisand yet, they do. (7/10)
Ravenswood 1999 Icon (Sonoma County) 13.9% alcohol, 73% syrah, 16% mourvdre, 11% grenache, and 100% heralding the ubiquitous plague of fat-bottomed bottles that fit or stack nowhere. Much more decent than Id expected, but then I didnt expect much. It tastes like generic semi-aged California wine, which is to say its still simplistically dark-fruited with most of the structure polished away, yet has gained no real complexity or interest over its youthful self. Yes, its still not very old, but given that the structure has already faded I see no indication that longer aging will do more than damage to the wine. Theres an element of greenness to it that Id like to think might be complexity in a differently-composed wine, but I dont expect green in California versions of any of the above-listed grapes, and so Im inclined to think that the grapes werent all they could have been. Which might account for an alcohol level that, through the lens of todays monstrosities, seems entirely reasonable. (10/10)
Reverie 2005 Barbera (Diamond Mountain) Thoroughly anonymous. Saccharine red fruit, sickly-sweet oak, and not even all that much acid. A little boozy, though. This is, Im afraid, what far too many Piedmontese are trying to achieve with their own efforts. Lets hope they dont succeed. (10/10)
Havens 2004 Syrah MJ (Dry Creek Valley) Glancing at the label rather than actually reading the text, this looks like an Unti wine, which threw me a bit until I got my hands on the bottle. 14.5% alcohol. Its syrah, all right, and New World syrah at that. And its tasty enough, getting pretty quickly to the leathery dark berry portion of the evenings entertainment. Complexity? No, not really. But as a quaffer, its nice. (11/10)
Londer 2007 Pinot Noir (Anderson Valley) Starts with the weird cola/candy thing that used to mar so many California pinots, but that has never been particularly common from the Anderson Valley. So thats weird. It does eventually round into a sort of form, layering some metallic soils and a still-sweetish red fruit together, but while this is happing the wine flattens and loses some of its life. Not bad, but theres still work to be done. (10/10)
Tablas Creek 2005 Syrah (Paso Robles) Burly but not overbearing, loading up the wagon with blackberries and blueberries, leather, roasted nuts, and rich California ripeness. Theres earth and baritone to this wine, and its balanced and structured enough to reward a fair bit of cellaring, I think. (8/10)
Tablas Creek 2006 Ctes de Tablas Blanc (Paso Robles) The bronzed stone fruit has not diminished in intensity since release, but it has taken on a deeper, richer tone, the metallics have been somewhat energized, and theres more soil in evidence. This is a heavy wine in the grand scheme, though decidedly not so in its local idiom, and is still quite luscious and even a little blowsy. Im convinced that age will continue to turn this wine, but those who require upfront fruit may want to think about drinking sooner rather than later. (9/10)
Qup 2007 Syrah (Central Coast) Purple fun. Fruity and only a little bit frooty, with fruit and a side of fruit. Finishes fruity. And despite all this (did I mention fruit?), its actually syrah-like. In a way, this is what California should be best at. Only they shouldnt charge four or five times what Qup is charging for thisand yet, they do. (7/10)
Ravenswood 1999 Icon (Sonoma County) 13.9% alcohol, 73% syrah, 16% mourvdre, 11% grenache, and 100% heralding the ubiquitous plague of fat-bottomed bottles that fit or stack nowhere. Much more decent than Id expected, but then I didnt expect much. It tastes like generic semi-aged California wine, which is to say its still simplistically dark-fruited with most of the structure polished away, yet has gained no real complexity or interest over its youthful self. Yes, its still not very old, but given that the structure has already faded I see no indication that longer aging will do more than damage to the wine. Theres an element of greenness to it that Id like to think might be complexity in a differently-composed wine, but I dont expect green in California versions of any of the above-listed grapes, and so Im inclined to think that the grapes werent all they could have been. Which might account for an alcohol level that, through the lens of todays monstrosities, seems entirely reasonable. (10/10)
Reverie 2005 Barbera (Diamond Mountain) Thoroughly anonymous. Saccharine red fruit, sickly-sweet oak, and not even all that much acid. A little boozy, though. This is, Im afraid, what far too many Piedmontese are trying to achieve with their own efforts. Lets hope they dont succeed. (10/10)
Havens 2004 Syrah MJ (Dry Creek Valley) Glancing at the label rather than actually reading the text, this looks like an Unti wine, which threw me a bit until I got my hands on the bottle. 14.5% alcohol. Its syrah, all right, and New World syrah at that. And its tasty enough, getting pretty quickly to the leathery dark berry portion of the evenings entertainment. Complexity? No, not really. But as a quaffer, its nice. (11/10)
Londer 2007 Pinot Noir (Anderson Valley) Starts with the weird cola/candy thing that used to mar so many California pinots, but that has never been particularly common from the Anderson Valley. So thats weird. It does eventually round into a sort of form, layering some metallic soils and a still-sweetish red fruit together, but while this is happing the wine flattens and loses some of its life. Not bad, but theres still work to be done. (10/10)
