Syrah from California

[KMP]

Syrah from California
Saturday 29th, 2005. $5 tasting at Vintage Wines, San Diego. Written up as This is one of the hottest varietals in the market today. With this growth has come some outstanding wines in all price ranges. Come taste 6 different styles of this great wine.

I tasted the wines without knowing their identity. The wines and the order they had been poured was revealed only after I had tasted and scored them. IÂ’ve written my tasting notes together with the identity of the wines in the order they were tasted.

2001 Montpellier, California ($4.49USD)
Lightest in color of the group. Spicy aromas of cloves and pepper, developing into dried tea leaves. Thin in the mouth, well balanced with good acidity and the flavors carrying through on retronasal. Interesting but far from exciting. (2, 2, 3.8, 9.5 = 17.3).

2001 McDowell, California ($9.49USD)
Cherry red with red edge showing just a faint tinge of brown. Aromas of burnt tomato, Oxo cubes and smoke. Thin mouthfeel with a distinct hole midpalate, but otherwise with good tannins holding up a lengthy finish. (2, 2, 3.5, 9.3 = 16.9).

2002 Sterling, Central Coast ($8.49USD)
Cherry red with a red edge. Another wine with burnt characters and aromas of Oxo meat cubes. This wine was better balanced with soft tannins backed up by mouth watering acidity at the finish. Flavors carry through on retronasal. (2, 2, 3.5, 10.0 = 17.5). Note: The tasting notes supplied described this as being “made in an Australian style”!

2000 EXP, Dunnigan Hills ($8.99USD)
Cherry red with pink edge. Pleasant spicy notes developing to pepper, and just a hint of ethyl acetate. Medium bodied and well structured with good drying tannins and clean acidity and the flavors carrying through on retronasal. (2, 2, 3.8, 10.1 = 17.9)

1999 Hogue, Columbia Valley, Washington ($13.99USD)
Cherry red with a tinge of brown at the edge. Strong barnyard and earthy notes that evolved into muted spice notes over time. Light to medium bodied with grainy tannins. This wine died on the palate and the flavors did not carry thought on retronasal. (2, 2, 3.9, 9.0 = 16.9).

2001 Nicolaysen, Alisos Vin. Santa Barbara ($39.99USD)
Cherry red with a pink edge. Blackberry, oak, some ethyl acetate and alcohol on the nose. Medium bodied with the flavors carrying through on retronasal. Well structured but just a little hot. What is the alcohol is this? Most Aussie like for my tastes. (2, 2, 3.9, 9.8 = 17.7).

Hmmm, did I rush back into the shop to snap up some if these bargains? No, in fact I think I was probably more than a little generous in scoring some of these wines. My excuse is that I was, of course, judging the wines within their peer group!!

However seeing that Alan Rath has encouraged me to taste more US Syrah I hunted around and grabbed a bottle of Carlisle 2002 Sonoma Country Syrah $37.99USD. This is a wine that Parker has given (92-95) which means that heÂ’s tasted it from barrel and his notes are as follows. A sensational effort, the 2002 Syrah is an exotic, rich, full-bodied wine offering copious quantities of blackberry liqueur, creosote, meat, and smoky notes. Pure, rich, and full-bodied, with great ripeness, but not over-ripeness, this terrific Syrah should drink well young, yet age for a decade.

My TN: Dense cherry red, almost purple, with red edge. Prominent sweet toasted oak overlying rich, ripe fruit. Not unattractive, but the fruit is not being allowed to show through here. Full bodied and very well balanced with an excellent retronasal and a lengthy finish supported by powdery tannins. The alcohol is evident, but not intrusive. At 24 hours the fruit flavors of blueberries begin to become apparent, but the toasted oak still predominates. (2, 2, 4.0, 10.2 = 18.2, 15.9% alcohol). Tasted January 29-30, 2005).

Clearly the Carlisle is way better than anything in the $5 tasting and it was cheaper than the Nicolaysen. None of the wines could be confused with Aussie shiraz. Which is a good thing!

Mike

[Gavin Trott]

[b]

However seeing that Alan Rath has encouraged me to taste more US Syrah I hunted around and grabbed a bottle of Carlisle 2002 Sonoma Country Syrah $37.99USD. This is a wine that Parker has given (92-95) which means that heÂ’s tasted it from barrel and his notes are as follows. A sensational effort, the 2002 Syrah is an exotic, rich, full-bodied wine offering copious quantities of blackberry liqueur, creosote, meat, and smoky notes. Pure, rich, and full-bodied, with great ripeness, but not over-ripeness, this terrific Syrah should drink well young, yet age for a decade.


My TN: Dense cherry red, almost purple, with red edge. Prominent sweet toasted oak overlying rich, ripe fruit. Not unattractive, but the fruit is not being allowed to show through here. Full bodied and very well balanced with an excellent retronasal and a lengthy finish supported by powdery tannins. The alcohol is evident, but not intrusive. At 24 hours the fruit flavors of blueberries begin to become apparent, but the toasted oak still predominates. (2, 2, 4.0, 10.2 = 18.2, 15.9% alcohol). Tasted January 29-30, 2005).

Clearly the Carlisle is way better than anything in the $5 tasting and it was cheaper than the Nicolaysen. None of the wines could be confused with Aussie shiraz. Which is a good thing!

Mike

Carlisle Wines are, I believe, by Mike Officer.

Good wine maker, nice bloke.

Had a bottle of his Zinfandel here with him at a dinner here, lovely stuff in the full throttle style!

[Guest]

Mike,

If only my wife would pay as much attention to my advice as you do Actually, the Carlisle is almost a style of its own, one that I like quite a lot, but unusual for California Syrah. Another wine I like to recommend is Lagier-Meredith. A bit hard to find, but there's a small local shop down your way that did have it: www.varietalswine.com (hopefully Gavin doesn't mind me listing a "competitor" up here in California). If Brad is out of stock, try Wade's Wines. If all else fails, give me a shout, and I'll be happy to bring one down to share this summer when we're in town.

Regards,
Alan

[Alan Rath]

Oops, just saw that I wasn't logged in for the post above.
Alan

[KMP]

Mike,

If only my wife would pay as much attention to my advice as you do Actually, the Carlisle is almost a style of its own, one that I like quite a lot, but unusual for California Syrah. Another wine I like to recommend is Lagier-Meredith. A bit hard to find, but there's a small local shop down your way that did have it: www.varietalswine.com (hopefully Gavin doesn't mind me listing a "competitor" up here in California). If Brad is out of stock, try Wade's Wines. If all else fails, give me a shout, and I'll be happy to bring one down to share this summer when we're in town.

Regards,
Alan

Alan:

If my geography is correct Lagier-Meredith is probably not too far from the weekender owned by friends on Mt Veeder where we stay when we visit Napa/Sonoma. However we have never visited Lagier-Meredith, but then its only been around for a few years, I think. I've heard of Varietals, so I'll drop by and see what they have in stock.

Have you tasted any Tensley Syrah?

Let us know when you are going to be in town and we can try to organize a little taste-off.

Mike

[Alan Rath]

Yes, L-M is at the top of Mt. Veeder, although that's a reasonably large expanse. Next time you're up there, you should definitely make an appointment to stop by - it's a beautiful vineyard, Carole and Steve are extremely nice folks, and they make great wine, IMO. Tell them I sent you.

Varietals is a very small shop, doing more web business than walk-in (it's actually a bit difficult to find, no big storefront). Give Brad a call first, and (again) tell him I sent you. If he's out, you can also buy direct from the winery www.lagiermeredith.com

I have tried a few of the Tensley wines, and quite like them, particularly the Thompson vineyard.

Will give you a shout when we're there this summer, and see if we can put something together.

Cheers,
Alan

[KMP]

Yes, L-M is at the top of Mt. Veeder, although that's a reasonably large expanse. Next time you're up there, you should definitely make an appointment to stop by - it's a beautiful vineyard, Carole and Steve are extremely nice folks, and they make great wine, IMO. Tell them I sent you.
Alan

If I remember correctly our friends place is quite close to Mount Veeder Winery. Anyway I've just finished a little emailing with Carole Meredith and some of the '01 and '02 are on there way down here.

Mike