We tried last night (11/21/12) Some Rhones From The Archives:
1. EdmundsStJohn Syrah Wylie-Fenaughty/ElDoradoCnty (14.1%) 1999: Med.dark color w/ little bricking;
some earthy/dusty light blackberry/Syrah/quite spicy bit cedary/old red slight Rhonish/coffee
quite complex/interesting nose; tart bit lean/tangy some earthy/dusty/granite slight tannic/
dried out slight mushroomy/forest floor light blackberry/Syrah flavor; long very tart/tangy/
grapefruity light blackberry/Syrah slight Rhonish/pungent/coffee slight cedary/old red some
astringent/dried out complex finish; rather tart/tangy/screechy on the palate w/ a quiet undercurrent
of blackberry/Syrah; rather interesting Syrah but probably headed downhill. $26.00
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2. RoccaFamilyVnyds Syrah Yountville/NapaVlly (14.2%; EG) 1999: Dark color; very strong blackberry/
boysenberry/Syrah strong charred/oak/toasty/smokey very spicy nose; soft fairly smooth strong
blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah very strong charred/toasty/oak slight bretty bit tannic/dried out flavor;
long smooth/soft slight tannic/dried out quite charred/toasty/oak/smokey/pungent flavor; a rather
attractive fully mature Syrah but a bit too much like a Syrah made by a Cabernet producer. $40.00
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3. Consilience Syrah Rodney'sVnyd/SBC (14.4%) 2000: Med.color w/ some bricking; strong pencilly/oak strong
blackberry/Syrah/spicy light pungent/graphite/ozone very nice nose; soft slight hot/alcoholic strong
blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry/spicy slight pungent/graphite slightly dried out/tannic some complex flavor;
med.long strong blackberry/spicy/Syrah/peppery fairly pencilly/oak bit pungent/espresso/graphite finish
w/ some tannic/astringent bite in backtaste; a solid/typical SBC Syrah that is starting to dry out a bit.
$25.00
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4. Consilience Syrah GreatOaksVnyd/SBC (14.5%) 2001: Dark color w/ some bricking; very interesting chocolaty/
walnutty strong blackberry/Syrah some toasty/oak bit complex/interesting nose; bit tart/tangy rather strange
herbal/walnutty/pungent strong blackberry/Syrah/spicy/chocolaty/boysenberry light toasty/pencilly/oak
slight tannic/dried out flavor; long herbal/walnutty/pungent strong blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry/chocolaty
light pencilly/oak finish w/ slight astringent/dried out aftertaste; a rather interesting/atypical SBC Syrah
that's probably as good as it will ever be. $25.00
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5. HugCllrs Syrah BassettiVnyd/SLOCnty (13.1%) 2004: Very dark color w/ slight bricking; beautiful
cold-climate/peppery very spicy/blackberry/Syrah/peppery bit roasted/pungent/Rhonish slight earthy
quite complex nose; tart very intense blackberry/Syrah rather peppery/cracked black pepper/cold-
climate some roasted/Rhonish/smokey quite complex beautiful flavor w/ smooth/polished/well-
integrated tannins; very long/lingering intense blackberry/Syrah/blueberry/spicy quite cold-climate/
cracked black pepper rather pungent/espresso/Rhonish/roasted quite complex finish w/ smooth/soft/
polished tannins; a pretty stunning cold-climate Syrah and demonstrates that Bassetti grapes are
(sometimes) some of the best Syrah being grown in Calif. $30.00
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6. SeanThackrey Pleides VII OldVines (13.5%; Carignane/Syrah/PS/Zin/Mourv/Sangio/
Grenache; Bttld: May 1998) NV: Med.light color w/ some browning; rather earthy/dusty some menthol/
eucalyptus rather cedary/pencilly/old red bit tired some unclean/bretty bit complex nose; light
fairly smooth cedary/pencilly/old Zin slight minty/menthol bit tired/dried out flavor w/ some
astringency; med.long cedary/pencilly/old Zin bit tired/dried out/astringent slight menthol/eucalyptus
somewhat astringent finish; some interesting things in there but probably on its last legs. $18.00
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7. Turley PetiteSirah AidaVnyd/NapaVlly (13.7%) 1997: Med.dark color w/ some bricking; rather earthy/dusty
slight unclean/mousey/mouse nest/hantavirus-laden/weird some pungent/ozone/graphite/burnt bit vegetal
nose w/ hardly any fruit; quite tired/dried out slight mousey/unclean/herbal somewhat tangy/grapefruity
some cedary/pencilly/old Red tired flavor w/ no signs of any fruit; med rather mousey/mouse nest/unclean/
herbal somewhat tannic/dried out/tired finish; very strange/weird PS w/ a real paucity of fruit. $35.00
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8. JacobFranklin PetiteSirah HayneVnyd/NapaVlly (8 brls; 15.5%) 2000: Black color w/ slight bricking; intense
blackberry/PS/peppery/boysenberry/chocolaty/licorice/very spicy/ripe huge fruit slight toasty/oak beautiful
fruit-driven nose; soft slight alcoholic/hot huge fruit/blackberry/PS/boysenberry/licorice/chocolaty very
ripe/quite spicy light toasty/oak flavor w/ smooth/polished/round/fine-grained tannins; very long slight
hot alcoholic intense huge fruit/blackberry/boysenberry/PS/licorice/chocolaty very spicy finish w/ round/
smooth/gentle tannins; still a huge fruit/monolithic PS buut probably at its peak; amazing PS. $46.00
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9. JacobFranklin PetiteSirah HayneVnyd/NapaVlly (10 brls; 14.4%) 2001: Black color w/ slight bricking; strong
blackberry/PS/peppery/licorice/spicy slight herbal/earthy some toasty/charred/oak very fragrant/interesting
nose that shows more of the clunky/rustic side of PS; tarter very spicy strong blackberry/PS/boysenberry
slight herbal/earthy some charred/oak slight alcoholic/hot more interesting flavor w/ some smooth tannins;
very long strong blackberry/boysenberry/PS/licorice some charred/oak slight herbal/earthy some tannic
finish; a bit more of the rustic/clunky side of PS than the other two, but also a bit more interesting
and complex; probably near iits peak; beautiful PS. $46.00
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10. JacobFranklin PetiteSirah HayneVnyd/NapaVlly (9 brls; 14.4%) 2002: Black color w/ no bricking; very
intense boysenberry/blackberry/blueberry/PS slight peppery/earthy/licorice huge fruit some toasty/
charred/oak stunning nose; soft/smooth/lush intense huge fruit/blackberry/PS/boysenberry slight menthol/
euclalyptus slight alcohlic light toasty/oak/charred flavor w/ smooth/ripe tannins; very long/lingering
slight herbal/menthol/eucalyptus very intense blackberry/boysenberry/PS/very spicy light toasty/charred/oak
fairly smooth/lush/ripe finish w/ round/fine-grained tannins; probably near its peak and should go out
another 10 yrs; a stunning huge-fruit PS. $48.00
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1. TobinJames SolarFlair Zin PasoRobles (15.4%) 1991: Med.dark color w/ some browning; intense boysenberry/
raisened/pruney/blackberry/chocolaty some alcoholic classic LateHrvst Zin nose; rather sweet intense
overripe/raisened/pruney/chocolaty/boysenberry very ripe/overripe flavor w/ little tannins; long quite
sweet strong boysenberry/raisened/pruney/overripe bit alcoholic finish w/ little tannins; a pretty classic
overripe LateHrvst Zin that seems to be getting shakey and showing lots of raisened/pruney character. $13.00/hlf
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2. Turley Delinquent Zin NapaVlly (19%; RS: 10%) 1998: Med.color w/ some browning; very intense blackberry/
boysenberry/Zin/LateHrvst/chocolaty some raisened/pruney bit cedary/oak some alcoholic/hot some complex nose;
soft rather hot/alcoholic very ripe/blackberry/boysenberry/Zin/LateHrvsty fairly sweet bit raisened/pruney
slight cedary/oak flavor w/ little tannins; quite hot/alcoholic rather raisened/overripe/pruney very intense
blackberry/boysenberry/Zin slight cedary/oak finish w/ little tannins; the alcohol is pretty searing but in
better condition than I expected; pricey at $41.00/hlf
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And the usual nonsense from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. Rocca: I have, of course, followed RoccaVnyds from the very start, at least on the Syrah side,
when MaryRocca and Eric (tall...once was a star center for the Rice Owls BB team) first showed
their Syrah at HdR. I liked it quite a lot and thought it one of the better (after Lagier-Meredith)
up-Valley Syrah. I'm not a big fan of NapaVlly/up-Valley Syrahs save the L-M. Too many of them
taste like a Syrah made by a Cabernet producer, w/ too much toasty/oak character. The speciality of
Rocca is their Cabs, which I have never tried.
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2. LateHarvest Zins: These last two wines were examples of LateHarvest Zins; a genre that seems to be of
a vanishing breed. More accurately, they should be called Essence Zins because of their high RS. I find
that these wines are pretty iffy in the way they age. They typically have a huge fruit nose that suggests
the wines will age forever. Oftentimes, though, as they age the alcohol starts to take over and the
pruney/raisened character comes to the forefront. They're tricky to catch at their peak. But some, like
the Ridges, can go on forever.
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3. Consilience: This is a wnry I followed from the very start when they first started making Syrah and PetiteSirah.
In the mid-'00's, I thought the alcohol levels started to get out of control, with many of them over 16%, and
they seemed to be a bit over-the-top and overblown fruit bombs. So I had low expectations for these two Syrahs.
Though I think they are starting their downhill slide, they were much better than I expected. I need to order
a mixed case of Consilience/Tre Anelli wines and see where they are these days.
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4. JacobFranklin: This is, of course, an arm of the ElyseWnry, named after their son (Elyse is their daughter).
Run by Ray & Nancy Coursen. Ray started in Napa as winemaker at WhitehallLane before starting Elyse in '87.
I've pretty much followed Ray from the very start because Nancy is the cousin of a good friend down in
SantaFe.
The JacobFranklin PS from HayneVnyd has always been one of my favorite Calif PS's. When young, it usually
shows much more fruit than most PS. I find that Calif PS can be a bit erratic when they age and that some
of the huge/monolithic PS's remain a beast of a wine throughout their entire life. Though these JacobFranklins
had not developed a lot of complexity, they had shed much of their tannins and come together quite nicely.
The prices reflect a family discount and these Hayne PS's are normally priced about $65.
When it comes to Calif PS; my gold standard remains the Carlisle, JacobFranklin, and Jaffurs for the
intensity of fruit they display. They Ridge YorkCreeks I like as well (the unreleased '07 will be the last
DynamiteHill), but they're different beasts and it's not clear the LyttonSprings vesion will every equal
those legendary YorkCreek bottlings.
Tom