Tried this last night at dinner:
1. Kenneth-Crawford Syrah LafondVnyd/SantaRitaHills (15.3%; www.KennethCrawford.com) Buellton 2004: Very dark/black color; very intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/licorice/RCCola some smokey/toasty/oak quite peppery/cold-climate slight roasted/espresso/Rhonish beautiful/classic SRH Syrah nose; quite tart lean/hard/tannic intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah bit pungent/DrPepper/licorice/spicy very peppery/cold-climate slight espresso/Rhonish flavor; very long tart/hard/tannic very intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/RCCola/licorice rather smokey/toasty/oak slight black cherry cola quite peppery/cold-climate finish; a classic peppery/SRH/cold-climate Syrah w/ pretty hard tannins; needs 4-8 yrs and may never resolve the tannins; no alcohol or heat showing; a beautiful SRH Syrah; as the wine warmed up in the decanter, the tannins subsided greatly. $37.00
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And a wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Kenneth-Crawford is a cooperative effort between JoeyGummere and MarkHorvath. The above WebSite appears to be dead/non-accessible. I gather that the partnership dissolved and the K-C wines are no longer being made. Joey & Sara now appear to be involved in TransdenceWines (www.TransendWines.com). I've not yet tried any of those wines.
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2. LaFondVnyd: PierreLafond was the founder of SantaBarbaraWnry in 1962, one of the oldest wineries in SantaBarbaraCnty. He then planted (presumably) the LafondVnyd out on SantaRosaRd in the Sta.RitaHills, before SRH was an AVA. I believe the original grapes went to SantaBarbaraWnry afore he founded the LafondWnry. He also owns the MontecitoWineBar in SantaBarbara.
It is a sad/sad tale of woe. He originally planted...gasp...Zinfandel in Lafond. When they could get the grapes to ripen (not often), they made an exceptional dry Zin that had loads of cracked pepper character to it. But most of the time, they couldn't ripen it and they made a dessert icewine from the grapes...which was also exceptional. Alas, in frustration, they pulled that Zinfandel some yrs ago. But it was a great run.
Tom