We tried tonight (9/10/14) some JCCellars Syrahs:
1. JCCllrs Syrah VentanaVnyd/ArroyoSeco (15%; 129 cs; Drk: 11/10-11/20: JC) 2007: Very dark color; rather herbal/
black pepper very strong boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah/licorice classic Ventana/cold-climate light smokey/
Fr.oak/toasty bit Rhonish/ozone/pungent beautiful nose; bit tart rather herbal/green peppercorn bit metallic/
tangy strong boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah/peppery w/ light tight tannins; very long/lingering herbal/green
peppercorn very strong boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah/black cherry cola/DrPepper bit toasty/oak finish w/ light/
tangy tannins; much more expressive of Ventana/cold-climate Syrah than the '08; a beautiful rendition of
VentanaVnyd Syrah at a great price. $30.00
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2. JCCllrs Syrah VentanaVnyd/ArroyoSeco/Monterey (15%; 288 cs; Age: 12-15 yrs) 2008: Very dark near black color;
bit dusty/OV less cold-climate/black pepper very strong boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah very slight herbal less
complex nose; rather tart/tangy very strong boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah slight herbal/licorice/perfumed talc
light toasty/oak flavor w/ some tight tannns; very long very strong boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah slight herbal
bit toasty/oak finish w/ more hard tannins; less cold-climte/herbal and a bit more intense Syrah fruit than
the '07; wonderful Ventana Syrah. $30.00
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3. JCCllrs Syrah MusciVnyd/AlexVlly (15.5%) 2008: Very dark color; some earthy simple/blackberry/Syrah bit
alcoholic light toasty/oak nose; soft/lush/ripe strong blackberry/Syrah light earthy light toasty/oak pleasant/
simple flavor w/ light/gentle tannins; bit alcoholic some strong blackberry/Syrah bit earthy toasty/oak finish
w/ light/soft tannins; almost more like Zin than Syrah; a pleasant enough Syrah but just that. $35.00
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4. JCCllrs Syrah MusciVnyd/AlexVlly (15.8%; 51 cs; Drk: now-10 yrs) 2009: Very dark color; bit stronger/blackberry/
Syrah/spicy light earthy some toasty/oak bit alcoholic somewhat simple/straightforward Syrah flavor w/ light
tannins; med.long strong Syrah/blackberry/spicy bit earthy some toasty/oak finish w/ light tannins and a
very unpleasant funky/wet dog fur aftertaste that ruins this wine; rather unthrilling Syrah. $35.00
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5. JCCllrs Syrah CaldwellVnyd/NapaVlly (15%; www.JCCellars.com) 2007: Very dark color; rather peppery/Rhonish/
smokey very strong blackberry/Syrah/spicy pungent/ozone/graphite bit smoked meats/roasted complex beautiful
nose; softer lush/ripe peppery/Rhonish/smoked meats/roasted/pungent very strong boysenberry/Syrah/blackberry
some toasty/oak pungent/graphite flavor w/ some hard tannins; very long/lingering very strong spicy/blackberry/
boysenberry/Syrah pungent/Rhonish/smoked meats finish w/ some hard/firm tannins; needs several yrs more of age;
loads of Rhonish character and seems to be made w/ whole-cluster fermentation; a terrific up-Valley Syrah.
$45.00
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6. JCCllrs Twist of Fate Calif RW (100% Syrah; NapaVlly; 15%) 2008: Very dark/near black color; very strong
blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/pure fruit bit simpler some toasty/oak nose; bit tarter very strong blackberry/
boysenberry/spicy/Syrah some toasty/smokey/oak flavor w/ ample/hard tannins; very long strong/blackberry/
boysenberry/Syrah some charred/oak finish w/ hard tannins; needs more age yet; loads of very strong pure Syrah
fruit & a good NapaVlly Syrah but simpler than the Caldwell. $55.00
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7. JCCllrs Syrah FessParker'sVnyd/SBC (14.5%) 2008: Very dark color; strong boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah/licorice
slight peppery/SBC light toasty/oak quite attractive nose; softer slight tangy very spicy/boysenberry/
blackberry/Syrah bit licorice/peppery light toasty/oak fairly classic SBC Syrah flavor w/ some smooth/ripe
tannins; very long strong blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah light toasty/oak bit peppery/licorice finish w/ light
smooth/round tannins; a pretty classic SBC Syrah along the lines of Jaffurs or AndrewMurray. $30.00
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8. JCCllrs Syrah FessParker'sVnyd/SBC (14.8%) 2009: Very dark color; more spicy boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah light
toasty/oak bit graphite/ozone/pungent quite attractive SBC Syrah nose; softer slightly spicy/peppery strong
blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah slight peppery/pungent some toasty/oak flavor w/ light/smooth tannins; very long
strong blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah quite spicy/bit peppery some toasty/oak finish w/ light/gentle tannins but
then a dreadful/wet dog fur/sour aftertaste wells up that ruins this wine. $30.00
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9. JCCllrs Syrah Haley RockpileVnyd/Rockpile (15.2%; 476 cs) 2008: Very dark/black color; strong graphite/pungent/
ozone/bit burning metal rather earthy/dusty/mineral/mushroomy very strong blackberry/spicy/Syrah rather rugged/
HowellMtn-like/mtn Syrah rather complex/exotic nose; quite tangy/mineral/dusty/rugged/mtn Syrah very strong
blackberry/Syrah/very spicy very structured complex flavor w/ strong/rugged tannins; very long/lingering
very strong blackberry/spicy/Syrah light toasty/oak rather rugged/structured/mtn Syrah tangy/mineral/earthy
finish w/ hard/structured tannins; a pretty classic example of a mountain Syrah; needs more age. $60.00
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10. JCCllrs Syrah Haley RockpileVnyd/SonomaCnty (15.5%; 100 cs) 2009: Black color; much the same graphite/complex
very intense spicy/blackberry/Syrah even more rugged/mtn Syrah dusty/mineral complex nose; rather tart mineral/
graphite/earthy/dusty/pungent/ozone intense spicy/blackberry/Syrah/peppery light toasty/oak flavor w/ strong/
hard/rugged tannins; very long/lingering intense blackberry/Syrah/spicy/peppery mineral/earthy/dusty/pungent
very structured complex finish w/ big/rugged/hard tannins; a very structured Syrah that needs much age; my
favorite of all these Syrahs. $60.00
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11. JCCllrs TimeCapsule RW Calif (Syrah/PS; 15.5%) 2007: Black color; some earthy/dusty/PS/clunky/peppery slight
blackberry/Syrah rather toasty/smokey/oak slight pungent/licorice nose; big rough/coarse PS/earthy/dusty/
blueberry some Syrah/blackberry rather toasty/oak flavor w/ strong/massive tannins; very long intense PS/
blueberry/bit peppery/earthy/dusty strong toasty/oak finish w/ huge coarse/rough tannins; quite a good PS
because of its massive size but not as interesting as the Syrahs; hard to say if this PS will ever come
together to be something good. $50.00
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12. Darby Mourvedre ColumbiaVlly (14.9%) 2011: Very dark color; very strange/milk of magnesia strong smokey/vanilla/
oak/toasty huge fruit/plummy/earthy bit pungent/ozone slight herbal/rosemary very interesting nose; soft very
lush plummy/blueberry/earthy/pungent some herbal/weedy flavor w/ soft tannins; very long huge fruit/plummy/
blueberry strong smokey/toasty/vanilla/oak slight herbal/earthy finish w/ soft/very ripe tannins; a rather
interesting rendition of Mourvedre but would like a lot more structure. $35.00 (vSC)
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. I have, of course, followed JeffCohn from the very start....back in the days when he was a winemaker
for KentRosenblum. I remember when he showed me his first Syrah down at HospicesDuRhone and I was
quite impressed by it. Don't remember the source of his fruit, though. Or if he'd actually started
JCCllrs or not. He is, I believe, the only winemaker to win the HdR SyrahShootout three times. He
always looked so resplendent when he donned the winner's jacket. The jacket itself was plug-ugly...
but Jeff always brought a certain je ne sais quoi to the garment. With the demise of HdR, I'd
be curious to whatever happened to the jacket (and the bowling trophy...the first receipient of which
was the OnlyTheRhonely LosAlamos bowling team, for which I was the AIC).
Jeff's Syrahs are obviously pretty big Syrahs. Yet, they don't seem to be overblown like some Paso Syrahs
and they seem to carry the alcohol levels rather well. The Musci Syrahs were the least interesting of the
batch to me. His Ventana Syrahs (and Grenaches) always seem to show that cold-climate/peppery character
and are the ones I find most interesting. But it was the Haley/Rockpile Syrahs that most impressed me. They
have a rugged mountain Syrah character to them that reminds me of the rugged mountain character you get in
Howell Mtn Cabs. These are huge Syrahs and I hope that they will eventually come together as the rugged
tannins eventually age out.
All in all, this was a pretty impressive bunch of Syrahs. Jeff's Zins are also quite impressive.
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2. DougMeador's planting of Syrah at his VentanaVnyd in 1978 was the first certifiable cold-climate Syrah
vnyd in Calif. His material came from FPS, the source of GaryEberle's Syrah. Doug had planted a block
of PS at Ventana, but the vines were being eaten up by the fierce winds that ravage the SalinasVlly.
Doug got to thinking about Syrah in the NorthernRhone and how it withstands the cold Mistral winds
there and decided that maybe Syrah might be a good match there at Ventana. I remember walking Ventana
w/ Doug in the late '70's and we were talking the usual stuff. We then came upon these rows a scrawny
vines and Doug proudly stated "...and this is my Syrah rows". I gave him this cockeyed look and said:
"Syrah in Monterey?? You gotta be kidding". He sorta shrugged his shoulders and commented "We'll see".
A few yrs later, when I tasted Doug's first Syrah, I was blown away by the slightly herbal, strong
ground black pepper...my first taste of Calif cold-climate Syrah. I was a believer from then on.
Of course, the rest is history. It was realized that Syrah was not just a Meditterenian grape, but
does very well in colder climes, and more cold-climate plantings followed Doug's. And, eventually, they
started planting Syrah above in the SantaLuciaHighlands, where the wines often display that slightly
herbal, intense boysenberry/black pepper fruit that makes the SLH one of the best Syrah regions in Calif.
Jeff's is the only VentanaVnyd Syrah I ever see anymore. Ventana still makes a Syrah (and Grenache), but
I haven't had one since Doug's tenure there. He sold Ventana and then went on to start DougMeadorVnyds, but
I think he's no longer making wine under that label. Whenever I taste Jeff's Ventana Syrah, which I like
quite a lot, it always takes me back to that cold/windy afternoon out at Ventana w/ Doug and the incredulous
idea of his planting Syrah in Monterey. Crazy, I thought.
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3. WetDogFur: This is a character I occasionally find in wines, most often sherries, that I find extremely
unpleasant....generally far in the aftertaste of the wine. It reminds me of the time I had to sleep inside
the tent w/ a very wet cocker spaniel (Charlie) high up in the SanJuanWilderness during a fierce thunderstorm.
It's something that I associate w/ oxidation because I most commonly find it in some sherries. I found this
far in the backtaste of the FessParker '09, which completely ruined that wine for me. I left all of these
Syrahs out on the counter overnight, and the wet dog fur character showed up in one or two other ones as well...
wines that I did not pick it up in the first go-around the night before. Don't know what this character is
but I certainly find it unpleasant.
Tom