2013 Saxum Syrah Booker Vineyard, USA, California, Paso Robles, Willow Creek, Wine Review

This is a blend of 67% Syrah and 33% Mourvedre. Consumed in the NY Jets stadium parking lot prior to the Monday night game between the Browns and the Jets. A lot of fun. While still very young, this was a perfect wine for the occasion. Big, bold and delicious. Inky purple in color. The nose has black raspberries, roasted herbs, plums and slight violets. On the palate, this has a wonderfully rich texture. The wine goes down easily. It is also delicious. Lots of black raspberry fruit with underlying char and a bit of pepper. Great energy and balance. Long finish. Goes great with grilled foods and a mushroom risotto as well. Still about five years from peaking and then will have another decade or more after that.

Grade:

A+

Score:

Vintage:

2013

Current Price:

$150.00USD

America’s Best Rhone Style Red Wines: 11th Annual Rhone Rangers Tasting Reviewed

The Rhone Report: About Rhone and Rhone-Style Wines and Winemakers is part of an ongoing series. Last month we discussed the white Rhone style wines offered at the 2008 Rhone Rangers tasting event at Fort Mason in San Francisco on March 18. This month we turn to the reds, of which we tasted 50. Among those we tasted were some old favorites and some wineries or bottlings with which we were not yet familiar. We don’t pretend that we tasted a representative group of wines, because our sample was skewed to wines we have loved in the past and others about which we have heard positive comments.

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2008 Hospice du Rhone Events: Highs & Lows of American Rhone-style Wines Tasted

The Rhone Report: About Rhone and Rhone-Style Wines and Winemakers is part of an ongoing series. The 16th annual Hospice du Rhone events in Paso Robles, California from May 1 to 3, 2008 was an opportunity to consider Rhone-style wines from a fresh perspective. Unlike most tasting opportunities, these events included Rhone-style wines from the Rhone Valley itself (51 wineries), elsewhere in France (4 wineries) as well as from Spain (4 wineries), Australia (17 wineries), South Africa (6 wineries), Chile (2 wineries), Argentina (1 winery) and the United States. The American wines were mostly from California (144 wineries), but a few examples from Arizona (2 wineries) and Washington State (5 wineries) were also included. While this is a California-dominated event, and while many of the Rhone Valley’s best producers aren’t represented, there is still sufficient European and other entries to make for interesting comparisons and contrasts. The events included two general tastings and a series of focused seminars.

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Top Ten California Syrahs - 2016

I tend to taste and drink a lot of wine over the course of a year. I am in a few tasting groups, sometimes the wines are consumed at various local wine store tastings and a number drunk with friends and family.

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2014 Saxum Syrah Booker Vineyard, USA, California, Paso Robles, Willow Creek, Wine Review

Vintage:

2014

Score:

Grade:

Current Price:

$130.00USD

Loved this wine! It is a blend of 68% Syrah and 32% Mourvedre. Inky purple in color, opaque and bright. Inky purple in color, opaque and bright. The nose is great with black raspberries, black cherries, plums, black pepper, roasted meats and herbs and slight dried flower notes. Full bodied. Lovely texture. Great energy. On the palate, this is delicious. Flavors of black raspberries, roasted earthiness, plums, spice and white pepper. Long finish. Good balance. This is drinking well now but still youthful. Drink over the next ten to fifteen years. great on its own, this would wo