WTN: 2005 Edmunds St. John, Syrah Bassetti Vineyard

WTN: 2005 Edmunds St. John, Syrah Bassetti Vineyard

About a month ago, Jim Cowan posted the following note:

2005 Edmunds St. John, Syrah Bassetti Vnyd.:
A completely different wine then it was seven months ago; no longer that barrel sample character, this has thrown a large amount of sediment and is quite closed; much darker smells and flavors and a bit disjointed. This wine, or at least this bottle, was angry about being disturbed. Hold.

Well, the local shoppe opened a bottle of this earlier today and Jim's note captured the essence of the wine perfectly at this point in time. Gobs of sediment. Shimmering purple in the glass. Initially I found it violent as opposed to angry, but it simmered down somewhat after about 90 minutes in the glass. Nevertheless, quite shut down, but everything seems to be there to reward patience as time should allow the wine to integrate further. I happily have a case and don't plan on opening one for at least a few years. As Jim mentions: Hold 'em.

Ah, that sounds so familiar: an ESJ syrah with good density having its typical midlife crisis from years 3 -8ish. It's probably a good time to do a check point for the drinking curve for something like ESJ 2000 Syrah "Wylie-Fenaughty". I just set a bottle upright for next weekend.

Ah, that sounds so familiar: an ESJ syrah with good density having its typical midlife crisis from years 3 -8ish. It's probably a good time to do a check point for the drinking curve for something like ESJ 2000 Syrah "Wylie-Fenaughty". I just set a bottle upright for next weekend.

Jeff,
I've been drinking a load of the 2001 W-F lately and even 7 years after vintage it still needs 4+ hours of air to strut. But, it is sooo good IMO.
BP

RW,

Sounds great.

If I had a 2001 ESJ W-F, I'd be trying it too. With the closure of Conejo Wine here in town a few years back, it's gotten much much harder to find ESJ wine even available to purchase. It never hits the floor. I guess I'm not buying enough anymore to "rank high" on a shop's list to deserve ESJ.

much much harder to find ESJ wine even available to purchase. It never hits the floor. I guess I'm not buying enough anymore to "rank high" on a shop's list to deserve ESJ.

As much as I love ESJ wines, I never thought of them as operating in that cult logic.

Heck, you're in CA, just call up Steve yourself. In part because he does not operate on that cult logic, he usually has wine to sell and should be able to figure out how you can access it.

WTN: 2005 Edmunds St. John, Syrah Bassetti Vineyard

About a month ago, Jim Cowan posted the following note:

2005 Edmunds St. John, Syrah Bassetti Vnyd.:
A completely different wine then it was seven months ago; no longer that barrel sample character, this has thrown a large amount of sediment and is quite closed; much darker smells and flavors and a bit disjointed. This wine, or at least this bottle, was angry about being disturbed. Hold.

Well, the local shoppe opened a bottle of this earlier today and Jim's note captured the essence of the wine perfectly at this point in time. Gobs of sediment. Shimmering purple in the glass. Initially I found it violent as opposed to angry, but it simmered down somewhat after about 90 minutes in the glass. Nevertheless, quite shut down, but everything seems to be there to reward patience as time should allow the wine to integrate further. I happily have a case and don't plan on opening one for at least a few years. As Jim mentions: Hold 'em.

Bill, I got a 4-pack of these a year ago, and then Steve said they were 20-30 year wines. At my age, I may not see them at peak!

Rashaan,

I'll call Steve Edmunds eventually, good idea. I don't join winery mailing lists anymore; a single bottle is all I would want from any one producer. Maybe Steve will be willing to oblige. For some reason, it had been harder for me to resist those semi-annual "new release" letters than to wonder what's been released (and miss out).

As an aside, you may have seen elsewhere on this site that I am on sort of a self-imposed wagon, purchasing-wise. We have so much wine already lined up in the cellar that is makes no sense to buy more at this point, at least until 2009. That would complete a two year period of real purchasing abstinence.

We now have basically ten years worth of great wine to open. We could open a new bottle nearly every day and pour out the remainders with no regrets, ever; and we usually do exactly that ! The remainders are typically 1/2 bottle or so since my wife hardly drinks wine at all. So unless the open bottle is absolutely freaking fantastic, I have no qualms at all with pouring out leftovers at day's end (or sending it home with the dinner guests). I've never enjoyed my own wine this much before. It's been quite liberating, this process of cutting back and cutting loose. No more hoarding for me; this stuff is for enjoyment and those years of accumulation are paying off right now.

Oops, dinner is calling. Time to see how that '91 Jamet Cote Rotie is doing.

those years of accumulation are paying off right now...Time to see how that '91 Jamet Cote Rotie is doing.

Nice. Enjoy.

[David M. Bueker]

I hope he didn't pour out half of the '91 Jamet. We might have to get disorderly on him.

I hope he didn't pour out half of the '91 Jamet. We might have to get disorderly on him.

Blimey, he would need some tharapy!

I found it violent as opposed to angry

Cheerfully violent, then?

My 2001 W-F was singing this summer, even without decanting. I think it is ready to go. Sadly, when I returned to the shop where I had purchased it-there were no more.

I found it violent as opposed to angry

Cheerfully violent, then?

Absolutely.

Rahsaan said call me, but donät do it for a couple of weeks. I´m in the Dolomites, headed for Lago di Garda, then Umbria, then Rome, then home. Really enjoying drinking wines that come in pitchers, that don´t have scores. It´s just wine here...