Syrah

This is a Syrah from the Sonoma Coast made in Helen Keplinger's home winery.  It drinks with a cooler climate profile and comes across beautifully.  Purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose is nice with boysenberries, dark chocolate, slight bacon fat and violets.  Medium to full bodied.  Medium tannins.  On the palate, this is the elegant side of California Syrah.  Boysenberries, white pepper and roasted herbs.  Deep.  Still young but starting to show some maturity.  Drink over the next ten to fifteen years.  This is great on its own but better with food.  Grilled Lamb Chops would work

This is a new winery for me and the first Syrah I have had from this AVA.  This Syrah is quite good and well priced for the quality.  I was expecting more of a cool climate profile but this is sort of middle of the road in California Syrah.  Purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose has black raspberries, floral (purple?) notes, grilled meats, wild herbs and slight bacon fat.  Full bodied.  Medium tannins.  Moderate acidity.  On the palate, there is juicy black raspberry fruit with some herbal notes and slight char.  This has depth.  Long finish.  Very tasty.  It drinks well on its own

These usually take a decade or so to round out into form so it was interesting to try this one a bit earlier.  Purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose is great with black raspberries, black pepper, slight bacon fat, and roasted herbs.  Medium to full bodied.  Medium tannins.  Good acidity.  On the palate, this is still a bit tight but opens nicely in the glass.  Flavors of black raspberries with some char and a nice mineral streak.  Good finish.  No harm opening this now but it may still improve.  Drink over the next eight to twelve years.  Great on its own, but better with food.  Thi

This is 100% Syrah.  Torrin wines are big, bold wines that really need at least a decade in most vintages to really come around for my tastes.  That said, at age 9, this was singing.  Inky purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose has black raspberries, smoked meats, slight bacon fat, black pepper and violets.  Full bodied.  Medium tannins.  Great energy.  On the palate, black raspberries, char, some blueberries and some minerality.  Long finish.  This is great on its own, but even at age 9 will be a difficult food pairing.  A nice BBQ Brisket would work.  Drink over the next ten to fif

This is a blend of 89% Syrah and 11% Graciano from the Central Coast of California.  Purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose has black raspberries, black pepper and roasted meats and herbs.  Full bodied.  Medium tannins.  On the palate, this is drinking well.  Flavors of black raspberries with some pepper.  Good finish.  This is riper in style but not to an extreme.  It should drink well for another ten years.  Nice on its own, this will work well with hearty foods such as Roasted Acorn Squash.  

This is a blend of 63% Syrah, 19% Mourvedre, 15% Grenache, and 3% Petite Sirah from Paso Robles.  Inky purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose is powerful with black raspberries, black pepper, grilled meats, black cherries, gravel and char.  Full bodied.  Lush texture.  great energy and balance.  On the palate, this is flat out delicious.  Flavors of black raspberries, black cherries, black pepper and char.  Long finish.  Still a big wine but it has calmed down since its youth.  It should drink well for another twenty years.  Great on its own, this will work well with bigger food off

This is the basic Syrah bottling which year in and year out is a great value.  Purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose has black raspberries, slight roasted meats, black pepper and a bit of roasted herbs.  Full bodied.  Medium tannins.  Nice acidity.  On the palate, this is delicious.  Open and drinking well.  Flavors of black raspberries with a bit of pepper and char.  Nice finish.  This drinks well on its own and will work well with most foods (not seafood).  A great wine for Burgers.  Drink over the next seven to ten years.  

This is a very nice Syrah from the Northern Rhone Valley.  Purple  in color, ruby at the rim, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose has boysenberries, roasted meats, slight floral tones and spices.  Medium to full bodied.  Medium tannins.  Good acidity.  On the palate, this is more middle of the road in style for a Syrah.  Flavors of black raspberries with some roasted meats and minerality.  Nice finish.  Nice on its own, this will be a bit better with food.  It would work well with burgers or ribs off the grill.  Drink over the next five to seven years.  

Purple in color with some ruby hues, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose has black raspberries, roasted herbs and meats, and black pepper.  Light tannins.  Nice texture.  good balance.  On the palate, this is drinking well.  Black raspberry fruit with some char and a bit or pepper.  Good finish.  This is nice on its own but better with a bit of food.  It went well with vegetarian (black bean) Chili.  

Another winner from this winery.  Purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose has black raspberries, roasted meats and herbs, black pepper and spice.  Full bodied.  Medium tannins.  Good balance.  On the palate, this is tasty.  It is a big wine, but for a Paso Syrah more middle of the road.  Juicy acidity makes it very food friendly.  It would work well with beef stew but also Indian cuisine.  Drink over the next ten to twelve years.