WTN: 2005 Firestone Vineyards Syrah

Santa Ynez Valley.
Popped this last night with a good friend who lives close by. Blackberry and mocha scents on the nose. Blackberry, plum, mocha and cinnamon flavors. After a while a meatiness appeared and the wine seemed to become more viscous. Smooth with a small huddle of fine tannins mid palate. Drinking very well and moderately complex. Paid $17 and worth every penny. 13.5% Alc/vol. I read where the Firestone Winery was sold so I'm wondering how the '07 and on vintages will stack up under new ownership.

Drew

[Jenise]

Don't see too many notes on Firestone wines, and it's nice to read something positive. The winery was a rich-family-vanity-project that suffered the ills that many such wineries do and their wines were difficult and inconsistent early on. By the time they gained their footing, if in fact they truly did, the area had sprouted a lot of very good to outstanding boutique wineries and no one noticed.

Don't see too many notes on Firestone wines, and it's nice to read something positive. The winery was a rich-family-vanity-project that suffered the ills that many such wineries do and their wines were difficult and inconsistent early on. By the time they gained their footing, if in fact they truly did, the area had sprouted a lot of very good to outstanding boutique wineries and no one noticed.

Awwww, Jenise...I beg to differ here. I've...uhhhh...followed Firestone from the very start. Brooks & Kate hosted me early on for a visit and...yeah...they had a lot of $$'s behind them and put it into the wnry & vnyds they created. But you'd never meet more down-to-earth, low-key, gracious & friendly people in the world. Rich they were/are...yes...but I never got a sense of it being a vanity project whatsoever. It was not a showcase wnry w/ extravagant landscaping or such, typical hallmarks of such vanity projects...just a very utilitarian wnry fitted out w/ the best equipment money could buy for their winemaker's to make the best wine possible.
They hired Andre Tschelitchef as consultant. Tony Austin was the winemaker...and a very competent winemaker he is. AllisonGreen followed him, and she was probably equally good. They were one of the very first wineries in the SantaYnezVlly. How the heck would they know what to plant in a pretty much new area?? Cabernet was hot in Calif.....so you plant Cabernet. Andre knew a bit about great Cabernet. Brrrrkkkkk....wrong choice of variety...it sucked big time. It's only been in the last 5-8 yrs that they've learned where to plant and how to grow Cab in the SYVlly. They put in SauvBlanc...harvested early as was the practice in Calif then. Very herbal/vegetal wine. They planted JohannisbergRiesling...never a hot-ticket item in Calif...to this day. They also planted PinotNoir, back when it was only being planted by crackpots and nut cases. Bingo.....Tony & Allison made some of the first interesting/good Pinots in that area.
True....over the yrs...Firestone has never been a consistent performer of making good/great SYV wines...hardly what you'd expect of a vanity-project. But as they've changed the mix of what's planted in the vnyd, I think they've had some real successes along the way and the overall quality has been slowly creeping upwards.
Anyway, Jenise...that's my story & I'm stickin' to it!!!
Tom

Never really liked the Firestone wines, except...
a few years ago when I schlepped wine at a local shoppe I always kept the Firestone Merlot in stock. We had a "young hottie" who loved the stuff and since she was very pleasing to look at, it was my duty as an old lecher. The down side is that her voice sounded like it was helium induced...a real downer if you get my drift.
As usual nothing constructive to add, but WTF.
BP