WTN: Donkey & Goat Fennaughty syrah sucks

[Jenise]

Was super excited to see a 2011 Donkey & Goat Fennaughty Vineyard syrah from California's El Dorado appellation wine locally. We let it rest for two weeks then popped it last Wed or Thurs night to introduce ourselves to this producer we've been hearing so much about.

Day one: black in color, stridently acidic. Starchy, cool-vintage, barely-there flavors of black plum and radish. Tight and unrewarding for current drinking, so we corked it for the next day.
Day two: sophomore shutdown's in full force. Scant flavor on front and back ends, nothing in the middle, so we corked again for the third day, on which we expected emergence.
Day three: a tiny bit of fruit in the front and middle, but not even up to the minimalist awfulness of day one. Maybe another day?
Day four: fruit's gone, just acid.

$40, down the drain. Grrrrr.

[Jenise]

Hmmm, maybe I had one of those mysteriously bad bottles? Ours didn't have any of the usual flaws, but here's another TN from Cellartracker dated 2/1.

"Dark purple in color. A floral nose mixed with cherry and pepper. Extremely fruit forward and a bit jammy at this time. Flavors of cherry, pepper and white flowers. Solid tannins. Pleasant enough, and should improve with time in the bottle."

[David M. Bueker]

I stopped buying D&G wines because I found them too variable.

It's very, very young, but I would agree that there might be bottle variation.

Plus, I like high acid wines, really high acid wines...so. And the 2011 is pretty severe.

I'm a big fan, so mea culpa if I encouraged you to try them.

Once my sister has finished their house in Anacortes, maybe I will be able to visit them in a year or so. I'll bring you a test bottle!

What with all the amazing wines that Steve Edmunds has made from Fenaughty fruit, this might indicate the variance was due to how the wine was made rather than the source vineyard, no?

[Jenise]

Brian, I also like acidity but there needs to be something else there to carry it. This just had nothing.