Syrah

Although this is a California Syrah, Lillian is an Oregon producer.  This is great.  Inky purple in color.  The nose has black raspberries, gamey meats, roasted herbs, slight black olives.  On the palate, this is delicious.  it has complexity and depth too.  Black raspberry fruit with slight earthiness and a bit of grilled meats.  Long finish.  This is just about at peak now.  Light tannins.  Wonderful texture.  Juicy fruit.  Long finish.  It should be hear for another ten years or so.  It will work great with roasted fowl or meats or grilled foods.  

This is a delicious Syrah from the North side of the Hudson vineyard.  Bedrock made two different Hudson vineyard Syrahs.  This is drinking quite well now.  Purple in color.  The nose has black raspberries, black pepper, slight roasted herbs and hints of bacon fat.  On the palate, this has juicy boysenberries with some black olives and slight grilled meats.  Very interesting and very delicious.  Good balance.  Long finish.  It took about an hour in the glass to really open up.  Maybe another year or two until peak.  A nice match to roasts and also to Indian or Thai foods.  

This wine has really taken a long time to come around, but is now drinking great.  This is there basic Syrah.  Purple in color, deep ruby at the rim.  The nose has black raspberries, black pepper, grilled meats and slight roasted herb.  On the palate, this is deep and complex.  Lovely medium bodied texture.  Black raspberry fruit layered with dry, charred earth.  Good finish.  This should continue to drink well for another ten to fifteen years.  A great match with Indian food, it should also work well with casseroles or roasts.  

This is a Zinfandel blend of 74% Zinfandel, 14% Syrah and 12% Mourvedre.  This is a big wine but it is drinking quite nicely right now.  Purple in color, slight ruby at the rim.  The nose has black cherries, raspberries, a bit of bramble, plums and black pepper.  On the palate, this has a nice texture.  A nice varietal complexity.  It goes down (too) easy.  Although there is no alcohol on the palate, it is 15.3%.  Lots of black cherry and raspberry fruit with some char and spice.  Good finish.  This drinks great on it own and would work well with a burger.  It probably should be consumed in

Torrin makes some of the best Rhone styled wines anywhere.  This is 30% Grenache, 30% Syrah, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 20% Tannat, so not completely a Rhone styled wine.  Close enough.  There wines are big and generally need at least five years to start to be approachable for my tastes.  This one is just getting there.  Purple in color.  The nose has black raspberries, plums, slight black cherries, blueberries, slight dust and spice.  It's great.  On the palate, this is big and wide.  Great texture.  Loads of black raspberry fruit with some blueberries and a bit of black cherries.  It's d

This is a classic example of how well these high octane Syrah's from Paso Robles can age and mature given the chance.  The bottle lists this at 16.5% ABV.  On release, many naysayers said it would fall apart after five years.  They complained about the heat and taste, many without even tasting it first.  Now, I will admit that I liked this wine young.  And, at age 17, I liked it even better.  Of course, if you didn't like it young, you probably won't like it now I suppose.  But, it clearly has not fallen apart.  It is delicious, complex and has years left.  This wine was made by Justin Smit

This is the first year that this wine was made.  It is a blend of Syrah and Petite Sirah.  At age 20, this seems to be at peak.  It is drinking great with no signs of being over the hill.  Deep ruby in color, purple at the rim (a nice sign of youth).  The nose is all about boysenberries along with hints of black pepper and some charred wood.  On the palate, this is slightly soft with no tannins left.  It is almost seamless.  Deep and complex.  Boysenberry fruit over a bed of char and dry earth.  Good acidity.  Long finish.  Delicious.  This will go with a wide range of medium and heavier fo

This is a blend of 87% Syrah and 13% Petite Sirah.  At age ten this is just starting to come into its own.  We drank this side by side with a 1999 which was illustrative.  Deep ruby in color with some purple swirls.  The nose is big with black raspberries, char and minerals.  A wonderful, full bodied texture.  Black raspberry fruit over a char/mineral/earthy base.  Tight layering with moderate tannins.  Long finish.  Delicious.  This does have some upside as it mature and comes together.  If opening now, give it a few hours in a decanter.  This drinks great on its own and will work well wit

The first bottle of this I tried had likely been exposed to heat during shipping.  It is great that I was able to try a proper bottle.  Much better.  Purple in color with ruby swirls.  Interesting nose.  It is smoky with a scent that reminded me of a really good corned beef sandwich at a Jewish deli.  That is meaty, slightly salty, a bit of yeast, and slight roasted meats.  Very proper and welcoming.  This is a cool climate Syrah and it drinks very well.  There is some bacon fat too, but that wouldn't go at a Jewish Deli.  ;-)  There also is some boysenberry fruit lurking in the background.

This is a GSM blend of 70/10/20.  Still young, it needs some time, especially for the Syrah and Mourvedre to come out.  Ruby in color, slightly cloudy.  The nose has black cherries and baking spices.  On the palate, this is more raspberries but the baking spice are present.  Smooth and easy drinking but also some depth.  Medium bodied.  Good acidity.  Needs a few years and should have a decade more.  Will work on its own and worked great with a stuffed eggplant dish but roasted foods in general.