WTN: A Slew of Syrah

Over the past couple of weeks....

2000 Edmunds St John Wylie-Fenaughty Syrah (Sierra Foothills) Cocoa dusted ripe syrah fruit with some leather and violet tons, rich in glycerin, griping tannins. Really nice syrah that will certainly get better over the next 5-10 more years.

2001 Edmunds St. John Syrah (CA) Yum. Solid dark fruit with lavender, smokey bacon, and black pepper zip. Good acidity and smooth tannins. Wonderful match with peppery, beef-shank peposo notturno and orzo primavera.

1991 Clape Cornas (N. Rhone) Smoky bacon, animal fur, some fruit left, good acidity, and a round silky texture. This wine is so ready and really good.

2001 Clape Cornas (N. Rhône) A bruiser! Big tannic monster, extremely gripping, rich fruit, wonderful structure but hard to break past those tannins right now. Day 2: bacon, bacon, bacon. Tannins are more teeth coating than gripping. Give it a good 10 years.

1997 Chave Hermitage (N. Rhone) Very leathery, lots of sweet ripe cassis fruit, excellent full body, spice, persistent tannins. Ya, it’s a ripe vintage but it’s still Chave all the way. No rush to drink but it’s doing fine now.

2001 Cave de Tain l’Hermitage Syrah Vin de Pays des Collines Rhodaniennes (N. Rhone) Grilled pork and bacon with some dried flowers and licorice. This wine has aged pretty well but it’s starting to get tired with the acid becoming much more prevalent than past bottles. Good tannic structure and spicy finish. Really good for $8.

1997 Cave de Tain l’Hermitage Hermitage Les Nobles Rives (N. Rhône) Bad bottle. Acetone nose, disjointed everything.

1999 Gilles Robin Crozes-Hermitage Cuvée Albèric Bouvet (N. Rhône) Richly concentrated wine with smooth, elegant tannins and a spicy finish. This is one of the better Crozes that I've had (although I havent had that many).

2003 d’Arenberg The Laughing Magpie Shiraz-Viognier (McLaren Vale) Aromatically closed, lots of ripe, clean, dark fruit flavor with a hint of pear. Unctuous texture, gritty tannins. Next day the taste is pretty bitter. Not a lot of pleasure here.

Thanks for the notes. The 91 Clape sounds great. I am going to a N.Rhone tasting Saturday night and the 97 Chave Hermitage is in the line up. Would you decant it at this point?

Also I recently bought some of the 2001 ESJ WF syrah and am looking forward to it. My first ESJ wine if you can believe that. I know, I need to get out more often, but they never show up in my part of the world.

Marc

Thanks for the notes. The 91 Clape sounds great. I am going to a N.Rhone tasting Saturday night and the 97 Chave Hermitage is in the line up. Would you decant it at this point?

Also I recently bought some of the 2001 ESJ WF syrah and am looking forward to it. My first ESJ wine if you can believe that. I know, I need to get out more often, but they never show up in my part of the world.

Marc

Marc and all, with all this Syrah talk of late, maybe an Open Mike on Syrah Calif v. Washington. I, for one,have a couple ready to go...Chatter Creek and Amador Foothill.

Comments anyone, be glad to set it up of course.

Bill,
Lots of terrific examples of their terroir in these notes. And we have remarkably similar impressions.
Best, Jim

Also I recently bought some of the 2001 ESJ WF syrah and am looking forward to it. My first ESJ wine if you can believe that. I know, I need to get out more often, but they never show up in my part of the world.

Although a taste now would be instructive, holding these bottles for a decade or so will make a hell of a difference.
If you're interested, you can order direct from Steve at http://www.edmundsstjohn.com/

And if you do order direct, throw in a couple bottles of the 2005 Bassetti, syrah. Its the last one Steve will make from that vineyard and he says it is the best red wine he ever made. It will, however, require time in the cellar.
Best, Jim

the 97 Chave Hermitage is in the line up. Would you decant it at this point?

Also I recently bought some of the 2001 ESJ WF syrah and am looking forward to it. My first ESJ wine if you can believe that. I know, I need to get out more often, but they never show up in my part of the world.

Following Brad Kane's advice, we just opened the Chave about an hour before drinking with no decanting. Worked well for us.

ESJ isnt widely available here either but echoing Jim's suggestion, the wines are only an email away.

Bill,
Lots of terrific examples of their terroir in these notes. And we have remarkably similar impressions.
Best, Jim

Thanks, Jim. It will be fun to compare '01 Clape and Bassetti in 10 years.