TN: 2 Interesting whites and 9 Cal Syrahs $20 to $40

L

Loren Sonkin

Loren Sonkin
Last night one of my tasting groups met to taste California Syrahs priced $20 to $40 and available in the Ohio market. It was my turn to host, and I added a couple of interesting starters. All wine tasted blind and consumed over 4+ hours. This seems to be a sweet spot for wines in this range. Everyone found lots to like here and good value for the money. All of these wines really improved in the first hour after pouring. The bottle were popped and poured and by the end of the night, none had started to decline.

Starter whites (no one guessed either one of these blind, go figure):

2006 Dragons Hollow Unoaked Chardonnay (China, Foot of He Lan Mountain Appelation)
This was better than their Riesling tried a few months ago. Light golden in color with a slight copper hue. The nose has a good dose of sulfur and lemons. A bit thin and a bit clipped perhaps, but this retails for under $10 IIRC. For that money, it is a safe, easy to drink white that most seem to like. Certainly more than just drinkable and now moves into 1st place among Chinese wines I have tried. 50+3+11+14+4=82

2005 Kozlovic Malvasia (Croatia)
Probably should have been drunk a year ago, but still showed well. Deep golden in color, clear and bright. The nose has minerals and peaches. Nice texture. Peaches on the palate with a nice crispness from the acidity. Long finish. 13% Alc. 50+3+12+16+6=87

The California Syrahs:
2005 Jaffurs Syrah Bien Nacido
Inky purple in color. The nose shows a lot of toasty oak out of the bottle. That went away with a half hour of air. Plenty of black raspberries and some pepper. A bit of plums and cedar added to the palate. This is young and has some tannins to shed. I would hold these. 50+4+12+18+7=91

2005 Justin Syrah
Purple in color, garnet on the rim, mostly opaque and slightly flat. The nose has a good amount of oak. Otherwise, some subdued black raspberries. With air a bit of iodine emerges. On the palate, black raspberries. Drying midpalate and tannic finish. A decent wine, but not one I would buy. Mine, and the groups second last place wine. 50+4+12+16+5=87

2000 Neyers Syrah
Still on the shelves here, this probably would fare better on its own or with wines of its age. I also wonder how its been treated during its life. Last place for both me and the group. Shimmering purple in color. The nose is a bit stewed and I wonder if it got cooked slightly along the way. Slight earth and black raspberries. Medium bodied. Plums on the palate. Certainly drinkable. 50+4+11+16+5=86

2004 JC Cellars California Cuvee
Inky purple in color, opaque and bright. Very tight on opening. With air, this had nice complex layering, black raspberries and black pepper. Tannic with some heat to it. Seemed to integrate with air. Nice fruit and in a good place after a couple of hours. 50+4+12+18+7=91

2003 Taz Syrah Santa Barbara County
This showed quite well, surprising me. Purple in color, dense, mostly opaque and bright. The nose shows a bit of barnyard that slightly blows off. Also black raspberries. Full bodied. On the palate, black raspberries and an interesting fig component. Nice finish. This stood out from the rest, perhaps thats why I enjoyed it. 50+4+13+18+7=92

2005 Earthquake Syrah
Inky purple in color. Very tight on opening, it took a couple of hours to show its stuff. Black raspberries and white pepper on the nose. Nice texture. Some heat on the palate, which went away with air. Black raspberries and minerals. Nice finish. 50+4+13+18+7=92

2006 JC Cellars Syrah Fess Parker Vineyard
Inky purple in color, opaque and bright. The nose has black raspberries, black pepper and grilled meat. Great texture. Some heat which quickly went away. Improved all night long. The groups co-WOTN. 50+4+13+18+7=92

2006 Neyers Syrah Old Lakeville Road Sonoma Coast
Inky purple in color. Nice raspberry and black raspberry aromas. Full bodied. On the palate, one dimensional although that is good. More elegant than most on the table. Nice black raspberry fruit. Good finish. 50+4+12+17+6=89

2007 Jaffurs Syrah
Shimmering bright purple, opaque. The nose is complex with iodine, black raspberries and white pepper. With air a bit of grilled meat shows. Very smooth with a couple hours of air. Lots of black raspberry fruit. Lots of tight layers. Needs a couple of years but I have had this 4 times so far and now, I need to bury the rest in my cellar. At $26 Ohio, this is a great QPR and I should get more. The groups co-WOTN and mine too. 50+4+13+18+8=93

A comment on all the wines. This was an incredibly busy week at work and at home. Add to that the cold 20-something temps and snow falling and these wines were, at least for me, perfect. I wanted something substantial, not necessarily a wine for contemplation. My friends Lou and Jeff stayed until midnight drinking and talking (if I was an ath-a-lete I would say we were conversating) and these wines really hit a sweet spot. I intend to buy a few of these to drink over the next 5 to 7 years.
 
Loren,

Welcome to Wine Disorder, the best place on the Interweb to practice arithmetic in public!

It seems to be going well!
 
Yes, welcome Disorderist!

I've liked Jeff Cohn's wines at JC Cellars from the time I had tastings there back in 2001 and he was starting to ramp up his own label, doign both that and still being the winemaker for Rosenblum at their facility in Alameda. Distribution of these here in NYS seems a bit spotty, but the wines are big but not as big-for-big sake, and he manages to pull a little elegance in with the brawn.
 
originally posted by SFJoe:
Loren,

Welcome to Wine Disorder, the best place on the Interweb to practice arithmetic in public!

It seems to be going well!
Click to expand...

Thanks. I was going to take that off my notes, but that seemed pointless.
 
originally posted by MarkS:
Yes, welcome Disorderist!

I've liked Jeff Cohn's wines at JC Cellars from the time I had tastings there back in 2001 and he was starting to ramp up his own label, doign both that and still being the winemaker for Rosenblum at their facility in Alameda. Distribution of these here in NYS seems a bit spotty, but the wines are big but not as big-for-big sake, and he manages to pull a little elegance in with the brawn.
Click to expand...

Really? I find the wood objectionable. To an extreme.
 
originally posted by SFJoe:
originally posted by MarkS:
Yes, welcome Disorderist!

I've liked Jeff Cohn's wines at JC Cellars from the time I had tastings there back in 2001 and he was starting to ramp up his own label, doign both that and still being the winemaker for Rosenblum at their facility in Alameda. Distribution of these here in NYS seems a bit spotty, but the wines are big but not as big-for-big sake, and he manages to pull a little elegance in with the brawn.
Click to expand...

Really? I find the wood objectionable. To an extreme.
Click to expand...

Well, I can't say I've had them from bottle. These were all barrel samples I had that day, and I preferred the zinfandels we were tasting. Has the oak treatment gone up since then?
 
originally posted by SFJoe:
originally posted by MarkS:
Yes, welcome Disorderist!

I've liked Jeff Cohn's wines at JC Cellars from the time I had tastings there back in 2001 and he was starting to ramp up his own label, doign both that and still being the winemaker for Rosenblum at their facility in Alameda. Distribution of these here in NYS seems a bit spotty, but the wines are big but not as big-for-big sake, and he manages to pull a little elegance in with the brawn.
Click to expand...

Really? I find the wood objectionable. To an extreme.
Click to expand...

That hasn't been my experience, which tends more towards Mark's description. In general though, I would say JC's syrahs and petite sirahs are wines to lay down for at least several years.
 
originally posted by Loren Sonkin:
originally posted by Chris Coad:
Interesting little glitch there. Are you cutting and-and-pasting from MS Word?
Click to expand...

Yes, what is the glitch, it looks ok on my computer.
Click to expand...

The numbers and symbols at the ends of paragraphs. I'd assumed that's what the 'arithmetic' talk was about?
 
originally posted by Chris Coad:
originally posted by Loren Sonkin:
originally posted by Chris Coad:
Interesting little glitch there. Are you cutting and-and-pasting from MS Word?
Click to expand...

Yes, what is the glitch, it looks ok on my computer.
Click to expand...

The numbers and symbols at the ends of paragraphs. I'd assumed that's what the 'arithmetic' talk was about?
Click to expand...

Chris was a theater major.
 
originally posted by Christian Miller (CMM):
originally posted by SFJoe:
originally posted by MarkS:
Yes, welcome Disorderist!

I've liked Jeff Cohn's wines at JC Cellars from the time I had tastings there back in 2001 and he was starting to ramp up his own label, doign both that and still being the winemaker for Rosenblum at their facility in Alameda. Distribution of these here in NYS seems a bit spotty, but the wines are big but not as big-for-big sake, and he manages to pull a little elegance in with the brawn.
Click to expand...

Really? I find the wood objectionable. To an extreme.
Click to expand...

That hasn't been my experience, which tends more towards Mark's description. In general though, I would say JC's syrahs and petite sirahs are wines to lay down for at least several years.
Click to expand...
Wow. I tasted in the cellar in Alameda a couple of years ago and all he talked about was his "barrel program," a phrase that makes me itch. But he was running 50%+ NFO on his zins and syrahs, IIRC. They tasted like more than that to me.
 
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