Sunday Susan had Bill & Jane Easton, plus LauraCrucet & father Fernando, over for some apps & wines:
1. AlbanVnyds Viognier Alban Estate/EdnaVlly (14.7%) 1999: Deep gold color w/ tons of tartrate crystals; strong nutty/toasted hazelnuts/oldish Rhone rather complex slight floral/old Viog some toasty/oak slight alcoholic/hot quite interesting nose; lightly tart strong toasty/oak/charred very strong old Viog/toasted hazelnuts/nutty very slight floral/Viog rather complex slightly bitter flavor; very long/lingering finish that tracks flavor; not a lot of fruit left & pretty much dominated by the nutty character; still in relatively good shape & no overt signs of oxidation; but like most old Alban wines has not developed a lot of complex; interesting but not a terribly profound wine.
______________
2. SQN Ode to E Syrah 11 ConfessionsVnyd/Sta.RitaHills (15.5%) Ventura/CA 2004: Very dark color w/ some browning; intense blackberry/Syrah/ripe/boysenberry strong toasty/Fr.oak/smokey bit complex/Rhonish nose; soft very rich/lush bit alcoholic lots of toasty/Fr.oak intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/very ripe slight spicy/peppery/Rhonish bit dried out/astringent not very complex flavor w/ bit drying tannins; very long very ripe/boysenberry finish that tracks flavor; still rather youthful but not showing much evolution or complexity; shows a bit of drying out & not going get any better I suspect.
______________
3. Easton Campo di Granito Valley's Edge Vnyd/Estate/ShenandoahVlly/CA (13.0%; TourigaNacional/Souzao) EastonWines/Plymouth 2021: Very dark/near blackcolor; very strong blackberry/boysenberry Mourv/Syrah-like bit licorice some toasty/oak very spicy lovely nose; fairly tart/tangy very strong blackberry/Syrah-like spicy fairly tannic/structured lovely youthful flavor w/ some hard tannins; very long/lingering spicy/blackberry finish that mimics flavor; nothing the particularly speaks of Portugese red & resembles Calif Syrah more than anything; quite a rich interesting red.
______________
4. Terre Rouge Syrah Sentinel Oak Vnyd/Pyramid Block (14.5%) Plymouth/CA 1999: Fairly dark color w/ some bricking; fairly strong blackberry/Syrah/spicy/peppery some smokey/Rhonish/roasted rather complex nose; lightly tart some lush/ripe/Syrah/blackberry fairly roasted/Rhonish fairly smooth/balanced flavor w/ light slightly bitey tannins; nice Rhonish character and drinking very well now. Quite a lovely rather Rhonish expression of Syrah.
______________
5. Easton Zin EsolaVnyd/ShenandoahVlly (14.5%) 2020: Fairly dark color w/ no bricking; strong very spicy/Zin/blackberry/boysenberry some vanilla/Am.oak bit jammy/licorice/Amador briary very lush/ripe nose; fairly tart/tannic very strong briary/Amador Zin/spicy ripe/blackberry/boysenberry fairly structured flavor w/ ample tannins; very long briary finish that follows flavor; speaks strongly of ShenandoahVlly/briary/Zin but more structured than most; could use another 3-5 yrs.
______________
6. Renwood Zin OldVine Eschen Vnyd (15%; $4468 of 634 cs) ScottHarvey/Plymouth 1983: Dark color w/ rather murky/brown color; some Amador/briary/blackberry/Zin rather tired/cedary/pencilly/oldZin bit oxidized some vanilla/Am.oak nose; soft rather alcoholic slight briary/Amador Zin quite oxidized/tired/dried out flavor w/ some drying/astringent tannins; speaks of Amador Zin w/ a whisper; pretty much a dead/oxidized/shot old Zin.
___________________________________________
More eekerfrot from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. This is, I believe, Bill's first Granito, made from Portugese grapes. He regards it as a fairly early-drinking wine but I thought it showed lots of structure & should age well. I liked the wine quite a lot.
I really liked the TerreRouge Syrah. Very much in a perfect place now & not going to improve much. I pretty much love Bill's Syrahs across the board. They are not overly extracted and show a balance much like Lindquit or EdmundsStJohn. They typically age very gracefully like this '99.
Tom