WTN: older ESJ Durell Syrah

As it happened, tonight was the perfect night to crack the first bottle from our case of Steve's library wines: an Edmunds St. John 1994 Sonoma Valley Syrah, Durell Vineyard. At first pour, this is already delicious, suspended between still-fresh raspberry and blackberry liqueur at one end, and deep tarry notes at the other. Over the course of the bottle, these two elements fill out, especially at the savory end, with the tarry elements joined by meat and truffle. Vibrant from beginning to end; and while I don't think there would have been any reason to wait to drink this, it shows no signs of decline. A great way to mark the end of a hard work-week, and an auspicious start to this case.

Nice. Did you decant for sediment? (I had a fair amount in my 2001 Bassetti the other week)

I know '94 is the 'blockbuster' Durell relative to the '95. But I'm still looking forward to the '95 that I plan to open for guests on Sunday.

Didn't decant; it was already so expressive from the get-go. There was some noticeable sediment in the last glass but nothing distracting. I have a '95 too -- I think I got the 94-95-96 sequence -- and will look forward to your note. (That Bassetti note was encouraging, too -- I have one left!)