Cracked these over the weeekend:
1. Smith-Madrone NapaVlly/SpringMtnDist Riesling (12.3%; EB) 2007: Pale yellow color; lovely low-key perfumed/fragrant light pineapple/floral/carnations/JR slight piney/wet forest some minerally/stoney slight gout de petrol/Alsatian lovely nose; very tart/lean some piney/minerally/stoney some floral/pineapple/JR bit petrol flavor; med.long minerally/stoney rather pineapple/floral/JR slight petrol rather tart finish; totally dry & pretty austere; not at all like most other Calif Rieslings; rather shy & tight right now but should be stunning w/ 10-20 yrs of age; terrific JR at a great price. $19.00
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2. JosephPhelpsVnyd NapaVlly Syrah (13.3%) 1985: Dark color w/ some bricking; some toasty/oak old Calif Cab/cedary slight pungent/licorice bit funky/wet decaying wood nose; tart/lean slight dried out/astringent some pungent/licorice rather toasty/oak/cedary/old Cab flavor; med.short tannic/astringent/dried out bit cedary/tobaccoy/old Cab slight pungent/licorice finish; not totally dead but certainly not much left of interest. $8.79
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3. SierraVista ElDorado Syrah (12.5%; EB) 1987: Med.dark color w/ some bricking; very earthy/dusty/Kansas basement/root cellar no fruit no Syrah bit Languedoc nose; rather tannic/dried out very earthy/dusty/Kansas root cellar slight pungent/charred/roasted no fruit no Syrah flavor; med.short very dusty/earthy/root cellar no fruit tannic/hard/dried out/astringent finish; no old Calif Syrah character, no old Rhone character; more like an old Mas du DaMasGassac that never came together.
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4. Arcadian Syrah SantaYnezVlly (14.6%) 2005: Dark color; rather spicy/peppery blackberry/blueberry/Syrah some smokey/pencilly/oak/toasty pleasant SBC Syrah nose; bit hard/tannic/austere/lean light blackberry/blueberry/Syrah some toasty/charred/oak flavor; med.long hard/tannic some peppery/blackberry/Syrah some toasty/burnt/oak finish; not that much fruit and rather hard/tannic on the palate; a blocky/clunky Syrah that is servicable but just that. $24.00
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5. Ridge Zin Oltranti (MazoniHomeRanch; Bttld: Feb'06; 41 brls; 10% Carignane, 2% PS; AlexanderVlly; Drk: 11/05-11/10-11/12: EB/PD) 2004: Very dark color; very strong blackberry/boysenberry/Zin classic Ridge/DraperPerfume/vanilla/Am.oak some earthy/dusty Geyserville-like complex nose; tart bit lean/hard/tannic classic Ridge/DraperPerfume/Am.oak strong blackberry/raspberry/Zin flavor; very long Am.oak/vanilla/DraperPerfume tart bit lean/tannic spicy/blackberry/Zin finish; bit hard/tannic on palate and needs 2-6 yrs yet; a throwback to some of the old-timey RidgeZins. $28.00
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Smith-Madrone: I've not had, nor seen, this wine for many a yr. So when I saw it on the shelf at retail, thought I'd give it a shot. It's one of the best Calif Rieslings I've had in yrs. Not particularly now, but for what it will be in the future. It reminded me a lot of very good Austrian Riesling w/o the richness & lushness those usually have. The piney character reminded me of a good Oregon JR. The stoney/minerality reminded a lot of great AltoAdige Riesling. An amazing Calif Riesling.
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2. Phelps: JosephPhelps made Calif's first varietal Syrah, in 1973, from a badly virused ChristianBros St.Helena vnyd. Made by WalterShug, much in the style of a heavily/toasted/oak Calif Pinot (gasp...a Syrah that tastes like a Pinot...we've come a long way now when we can get Pinot that tastes like Syrah!!). It was dreadful and probably set the Syrah market in Calif back 10 yrs.
Phelps took cuttings from this vnyd and propagated onto their StHelena vnyd. Those Syrahs were never much good. Despite their being the pioneer of Syrah in Calif, they never really made Syrahs of the quality they were capable of until the early 2000's, when CraigWilliams finally got it right.
This '85 was never anything special, but the mark-down price was right. Alas, it has never developed into anything very special or interesting. HoHum.
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3. RidgeOltranti: I was excited to get my new ATP release last week because Ridge has really been on a roll w/ their '07 Zins. Then after I cracked the btl and looked closely at the label...it said 2004!!! So whot!! They wine was bttls back in early '06. Just sorta curious why/where the wine has been languishing and just now being released as an ATP. Kinda curious.
Tom