WTN: Wind the Gap

Wind Gap 2013 Sonoma Coast Syrah. 12.4% abv. Had a bottle of this from a wine list last year and found it very delicate, floral, and Pinot-like; this, while hardly huge or burly, isn't delicate either: it's bright and bold; floral, yes, but with a little olive, too; assertively juicy and a little grippy, and not at all reminiscent of anything except Syrah. Opened to go with charcuterie before we knew what we were making for dinner, and it didn't prove to be a great pairing, so I'll base my judgment on the first half of the bottle and just say that it was excellent.

[David M. Bueker]

Good to hear it might be coming into its own. For my tastes even the Sonoma Coast bottling needs several years. The 2008 is getting close to where I want it to be.

Pairing California Syrah is not easy. It does not seem to favor the same foods that works for Rhone wines. No idea why except that perhaps the more overt fruit causes pairing to fail even when the savory characteristics are in the mix.

I could see that -- but this was nothing that subtle: I wound up making a bucatini carbonara, knew it needed a white, but kept drinking this anyway.

Good to know your sense of the longevity of these. I have one more of the 2013, which I'll ignore for a while, I think.