This was my orphan wine at BBB last Thurs night:
1. SineQuaNon PokerFace Calif Syrah (15.5%; 1/3rd 11 Confessions/Estate/Sta.RitaHills +
Alban/BienNacido/WhiteHawk vnyds; 2.5% Mourvedre, 1.5% Viognier) 2004: Very dark/black color; very intense blackberry/boysenberry/ripe/Syrah bit peppery/black pepper/minty/menthol strong smokey/toasty/charred oak bit complex nose; lightly tart intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/ripe fairly toasty/charred/oak flavor w/ ample hard/crunchy/ripe tannins; very long intense primary/blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah strong charred/toasty/Fr.oak slight peppery finish w/ ample hard/tough/ripe tannins; still loads of primary fruit and not much evolution or complexity; maybe drying out a bit but tastes exactly like it did 10 yrs ago; no signs of alcoholic heat, but that will surely start to come out eventually. $123.00
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. This is a wine, at 14 yrs of age, loaded w/ primary fruit and not showing much sign of any evolution. Pretty much mirrors the Alban wines in style, though I found this SQN a bit more interesting than a 14 yr old Alban. I liked the wine quite a lot and am in awe as to the degree of extraction it shows. Wheter it will ever develop into something as pleasurable or complex as a 14 yr old Qupe or Ojai, I have my doubts. I'm not sure I understand the point of making a wine like this other than to garner big points out of Monktown.
Tom