So I decided to do a reasonably large BC Syrah comparative tasting because most of these wines are small production and hard to get hold of. Started out with a couple of whistle wetters:
2006 Township 7 Gewurz – well, it was better than the last one I tasted in that it had some varietal character, but I found it lean and acidic and lacking sufficient fruit on palate to balance they acidity. Hope they do better in other vintages.
2006 Thornhaven Gewurz – luscious nose, varietally correct, and while obviously having more RS than the T7, it was also well balanced. Excellent effort and my best Gewurz of this vintage so far.
The main event:
2002 Kettle Valley Syrah – 95% syrah 5% Viognier. Hot nose, lots of pepper and spice, good length in the mouth but also a bit hot (14.5%). Nose is the best thing here.
2002 Kettle Valley Shiraz – they used 100 % syrah, in American oak with this one – you get a smoother vanilla based nose, and smooth on palate with less heat. Decent wine – the Syrah nose with this wine would have been a great amalgam.
2002 Burrowing Owl Syrah – warm syrah nose with some barnyard. Good weight but a bit of a gap in midpalate.
2003 Burrowing Owl Syrah – lovely pepper nose, sweeter and longer, my preferred wine so far.
2003 Sandhill Small Lots Phantom Creek Vineyard – pepper in nose and mouth, a big wine with great balance, concentrated and long. Sadly very highly allocated and hard to get.
2005 Sandhill Small Lots Phantom Creek Vineyard – a lot of similarity but a lighter weight version with a very pretty nose. This vintage won’t last as long as the 2003.
2002 Nichol – decent nose but then lean and acidic.
2002 Mission Hills Select Lot Collection Family Estate – from a large winery and very forgettable. Heavily oaked middle weight, very cabernet like, no middle, atypical.
2004 Desert Hills Syrah – had hopes for this dark wine, but the dry cardboard (not corkiness, mind you, a paper bag sort of thing, quite odd) killed it for me despite the nice sweet fruit on palate.
2003 La Frenz – another one I had hopes for, being the product of an Australian winemaker, but in the end it was just decent. Minty nose (must ask him where he planted the Eucalyptus), decent concentration decent length and good balance but it wasn’t up there with the Sandhill.
2005 Golden Mile Black Arts Syrah – dark with a full sweet nose, long finish and will improve with age. Watch this winery – they are doing good things!
2005 Church and State – made by Bill Dyer, formerly consultant to Burrowing Owl (whose products seem to have become less interesting after he left). Some spice in the fairly ripe nose, a big, sweet soft friendly wine that is ready to drink now.
2000 Glen Fiona Yakima Syrah – cheesy funky nose, decent fruit and balance.
2001 Glen Fiona Bacchus Vd. – the gold label, soft and spicy in the mouth, smooth ans pleasant. The equal of all the BC wines except the 2003 Sandhill.
2004 Petales d’Osoyoos – after this point it turned into a leisurely tasting as we had finished the main event and people brought out some other wines, This was fairly good a hint green and green pepper on the nose. Good value.
I brought out various BC whites to show those unfamiliar with them until the designated drivers showed up. We counted 23 bottles in the garden next day (a couple under bushes). We were, I think, 12 or 13 people, so the designated drivers were a necessity.
Hopefully Jenise kept notes on the late wines.