2012 Levo Syrah Bad Medicine, USA, California, Santa Barbara, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2012
Score: 
88
Grade: 
B+

This was my first time trying wine.  It is a solid wine.  Whether it is worth the $40 price tag is up to you.  It did seem a bit advanced so perhaps look for younger vintages.  Purple in color with some browning.  The nose is dusty with black cherries.  On the palate, this is tart with black cherry fruit.  Also a black olive note.  This drinks like a cooler climate Syrah.  It will work with a wide variety of foods; stews will be great.  

2007 Jaffurs Syrah Upslope, USA, California, Santa Barbara, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2007
Score: 
95
Grade: 
Current Price: 
$75.00USD

This was my personal favorite (the group's 2nd) in a recent blind tasting of Santa Barbara Syrahs.  Just a sensational bottle of wine,  Inky purple in color.  The nose has black raspberries, black coffee, white pepper and roasted meats.  Deep.  On the palate, this is delicious.  Black raspberry fruit over a clay-ish base.  It unwinds in the glass with lighter tannins.  Long finish.  This is a big wine but with a lovely elegance to it as well.  I doubt it gets better from here but easily has another decade or more left at this level.  It will go with bigger meats and stews.  

2009 McPrice Myers Syrah Larner Vineyard, USA, California, Santa Barbara, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2009
Score: 
93
Grade: 
A

Purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose is very nice with black raspberries, baking spice, black pepper and a bit of roasted meats.  On the palate, this is more black cherry than darker fruit.  Its ripe with firm tannins.  Drinking youthfully, this will benefit from air or further cellaring.  It has good acidity and a nice depth to it.  It will need bigger foods or drink it on its own.  In our group tasting the got four first place votes out of ten and was the groups WOTN.  

2013 Tensley Syrah Colson Canyon Vineyard, USA, California, Santa Barbara, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2013
Score: 
91
Grade: 
A-
Current Price: 
$48.00USD

Tensley makes some of the best AND best value Syrahs anywhere.  This wine is outstanding.  Purple in color, ruby at the rim.  The nose is dusty with spice, black raspberries, slight black pepper and bit of coffee.  There is some volatile acidity on this wine.  Whether that is an issue depends on your tolerance.  On the palate, this is sweet and slightly cloying.  Ripe vs. Residual Sugar?  I think a bit of RS but not crazy.  Lots of black raspberry fruit.  Slightly cloying.  This is a tough fruit match but a tasty wine that drinks well on its own and will work with spicy foods.  

2016 Fess Parker Syrah, USA, California, Santa Barbara, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2016
Score: 
90
Grade: 
A-
Current Price: 
$19.00USD

Ah, Daniel Boone.  RIP.  Sometimes Fess Parker wines get dissed by the cognoscenti.  That's too bad as they make really good wines at affordable prices.  This was purchased for $25 and was an excellent Syrah.  It kept getting better with air.  It probably needs a nice decant or a few more years in a cellar but it was very enjoyable right now.  Purple in color, ruby at the rim.  The nose is dusty with spice and black raspberries.  On the palate, this drinks delicious.  Juice acidity.  Black raspberry fruit with a softer texture.  Black olives.  It is sweet with what sees to be slight residua

2009 Jaffurs Syrah Verna's, USA, California, Santa Barbara, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2009
Score: 
89
Grade: 
B+

I am not sure how proper a bottle this was.  Certainly, not as good as prior bottles I have had in the past.  Purple in color, clear and bright.  The nose is different.  Some black raspberry fruit but also cloves and a slight minty quality.  Very nice texture although there are still tannins.  Black raspberry fruit that starts out a bit bitter but then finishes a bit sweet.  This was a vintage that had rains at the end and perhaps at least some of these grapes may have been picked after the harvest as it is lighter than most vintages of this wine.  All that said, it is still a very good win

2016 Summerland Chardonnay, USA, California, Santa Barbara, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2016
Score: 
88
Grade: 
Current Price: 
$16.00USD

This is a reasonably priced Chardonnay.  It does have a fair amount of oak on it, but is still on the crisper style.  Golden in color.  The nose has lemon vanilla cream with some raw cut lumber.  It has a nice oily texture.  Plenty of fresh oak on the palate as well but also some lemon and orange peel.  Slightly bitter on the finish.  For the price (around $16), this is a nice Chardonnay for drinking over the first few years.  

2003 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage, France, Rhone, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2003
Score: 
100
Grade: 
A+
Current Price: 
$700.00USD

What a spectacular bottle of wine.  This will certainly be in the running for WOTY.  Pop and pour, it took around thirty minutes to really open.  Luckily, this was being share with just a couple of friends.  This wine is no longer the port-like monster of its youth.  It is still a big wine for Chave, but it is starting to have a certain control to it.  Purple/ruby in color.  The nose is amazing with black raspberries, violets, slight white pepper, minerals and earth.  On the palate, this has tight layers that unwind in the glass.  Black raspberries, white pepper and crushed rocks.  Long fin

2015 Rhys Chardonnay Bearwallow Vineyard, USA, California, Santa Cruz, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2015
Score: 
94
Grade: 
A
Current Price: 
$83.00USD

My favorite Chardonnay producer (not my favorite vineyard) but the house style is unmistakable.  Light golden in color.  The nose has a lovely lemon vanilla creme quality to it with nice minerality.  This vineyard also seems to have a slight pine quality which while good is a bit harder to match with food.  Nice balance.  Good acidity.  The palate has the same flavors with the vanilla less in the foreground and the minerals more prominent.  This bottle was paired with Japanese foods and it worked very well.  

2015 Weingut Max Ferd. Richter Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese, Germany, Mosel, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2015
Score: 
94
Grade: 
A
Current Price: 
$30.00USD

This is drinking well right now if young.  It was brought to a Japanese restaurant and worked wonderfully with all of the foods.  It is sweet, so if you are not fond of sweet wines, then you may want to pass.  Light yellow gold in color.  Beautiful nose of minerals/wet stones, grapefruit and a bit of pineapple.  Slightly viscous but with good cut to it.  Lots of depth as well as width on the palate.  The grapefruit dominates here but there is a nice underlying minerality.  Good finish.  It is delicious but with the right food is where it really shines.  This will probably continue to evolve

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