Tried these two last night:
1. Drew Syrah Ridgeline MencoRidge (295 cs; 14.4%; www.DrewWines.com) Elk 2006: Dark color w/ slight bricking; strong blackberry/Syrah/very spicy some peppery/cracked black pepper/cold-climate Syrah light toasty/oak bit Rhonish/smoked meats lovely nose; fairly tart strong spicy/Syrah/blackberry slight smoked meats/Rhonish light toasty/oak bit complex flavor w/ light bit angular/astringent tannins; very long/lingering strong blackberry/Syrah/spicy bit peppery/c-c Syrah some Rhonish/smokey complex finish w/ light slightly hard tannins; quite an attractive structured fully mature c-c Syrah.
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2. Drew Syrah BrokenLegVnyd/AndersonVlly (115 cs; 14.5%) 2006: Very dark color w/ no bricking; very strong ripe/blackberry/Syrah/spicy very light black pepper/c-c Syrah slight mineral/graphite/pungent light toasty/smokey/oak more complex nose; bit softer slight tangy/graphite/mineral/metallic strong blackberry/blueberry/Syrah/very spicy light black pepper/c-c Syrah more complex flavor w/ modest crunchy tannins; very long very strong spicy/blackberry/blueberry/Syrah slight earthy/peppery light toasty/oak bit complex finish w/ some hard/crunchy tannins; more of a Calif-style Syrah and less Rhonish character; structured fully mature and not going to get better.
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. I'm a big fan of JasonDrew's Syrahs. Much different in style than what he did down in SantaBarbara.
I presume the Ridgeline Syrah is a blend of Valenti and Perli vnyds.
These two were clearly birds of a feather and very similar stylistically. They seem to be starting to dry out slightly from the astringency in the tannins and will likely not get any better.
Tom