TN: The (not so) Young and Restless

L

Larry Stein

Larry Stein
In the past week, Sandi and I have drunk a couple of ESJ wines, young and old.

Last Friday, we drank 2000 Wylie-Fenaughty Syrah. Unlike our experience with '97 Fenaughty Syrah which was like riding a roller coaster from the front seat, the '00 was like skipping through the meadow. The structure was seamless (both in the nose and mouth), no rough edges with excellent balance. Wonderfully complex. One of the finest bottles I've tasted from Steve's blind intuition.

On Sunday, we opened '09 Rocks and Gravel. This wine is about half Grenache, but there's no sense of that candied strawberry note from that variety. The other varieties (Syrah and a dollop of Mourvedre) mitigated that. It developed some tannins over time, but it never got rough or abrasive. Another fine effort and I plan on burying my remaining bottles for several years.
 
Based on the notes I've read (including yours), I thought that might be the case. I don't think this will be as long-lived as some of his other reds. However, given the structural components in the bottle we drank, 3 year or so doesn't seem out of line. I'm sure others will chime in when they open one and that will give us some idea.
 
I've already consumed three of the 2009 R&G due to the combination of my weak willpower and the sheer deliciousness of the wine. I don't see it as a particularly short term wine, but drinking over a 10 year span would not seem out of order.
 
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