1. JCCllrs Syrah MusciVnyd/AlexVlly (15.5%; www.JCCellars.com; "You'll never know unless you try it") Oakland 2008: Dark color w/ slight bricking; strong blackberry/Syrah/very spicy some toasty/charred/oak plummy bit alcoholic rather attractive nose; bit soft lush/rich/ripe strong blackberry/spicy/Syrah/bit boysenberry some Zin-like/blackberry bit earthy slight alcoholic some toasty/charred/oak flavor w/ light smooth tannins; very long/lingering very ripe/blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry/spicy some toasty/charred/oak bit hot/alcoholic slight Rhonish/roasted bit complex finish w/ light smooth/ripe tannins; shows a bit of the alcohol but has developed better than I expect; still loads of ripe fruit; a bit lacking in structure but very good drinking.
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Tried this back in Sept '14:
Tom wrote: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
Jeff has a distinct style of his Syrahs that emphasizes huge fruit, lots of extract and oak, lots of ripeness. A style that I have sorta lost interest in. Again, I was expecting a hot/alcoholic mess for this wine. It was not. Probably as good as it's going to get and the alcohol will only become more dominant.
I have, of course, followed JeffCohn from the very start, from his winemaking days w/ KentRosenblum. I once belonged to his wine club but dropped off as I tired of that style. I should arrange a visit w/ Jeff the next trip I make to Calif and revisit his wines.
Tom