2012 Riverain Syrah Cardiac Hill Bennett Valley- USA, California, Sonoma County, Bennett Valley (10/30/2014)
Pop n pour. Crazy dark colored core with a rim of magenta where the wine meets the glass. I swirled this around in the glass to aerate and noticed the legs were very prominent, not that they were unusually large but they stuck around for a long time as we were working our way through a huge Kutch lineup. I wrote this note over an hour with the same pour and the wine really moves around or evolves over time which I guess is expected with such a young wine. The aromas are blue fruit and an unmistakable black olive which everyone at the table identified. Palate is driven by some red and blue fruit initially but after time the blue really runs the show. The oak shows as charcoal or graphite, very linear across the palate. FMIII and I debated an iron note, his take, but I was leaning towards a rusty nail or iodine and all are fair takes. Might be even more acidity at this stage than the '11 which was also superb. Lots of complexity here. The finish lengthen over the hour, quite impressive, but the youth is exposed with prickly tannins and a dry note. This is approachable at this point but I’d open the night before or in the morning for the next year.
Adding to Brig’s note, as we enjoyed the same bottle, here is my take on the wine. As a point of disclosure, Steve Nordhoff who owns the label and is the dude behind the wine, is a close friend of mine. Yet, as I did with the 2011 syrah recently, I have called this note as I see the wine, no bull.
2012 Riverain Syrah Cardiac Hill Bennett Valley- USA, California, Sonoma County, Bennett Valley (10/30/2014)
Nice to get a chance to see what’s under the cork here, and having just drank another one of the 2011s last month in Philly, was eager to see how the 2 vintages expressed themselves. So, to think aromatics, and even with the nearly 2/3rds whole cluster used in the 2012 (which is about double the 2011), the wine just eats it up. The aromatics instead here have a molten quality, like a dark fruited, iron and lavender. In fact, the wines stains the glass like a mutha. The palate? Hot rocks, iron, full of ink with blue-based fruit and an earthy blackberry. A finish then closes with rocks and some black olive. The wine sees zero new oak, as well. I dig the 2011, for it’s black pepper and black olive and acidity, and yet this 2012 seems to honor the vintage with color, depth and throttle. And if there is a thought to whether the color and fruit portend booziness, put that thought to bed. I sensed none of that here. I got three for the cellar, these are beauties.
I was impressed with the wine last night. It’s similar in style to the 2011, but with a level more concentration and density (though not sweetness) reflecting the vintage difference.
It is a masculine, Northern Rhone styled syrah. There are deep, dense black and blue berries buried in there which are probably a few years away from really emerging to the forefront, and the wine for now is more about a wild mixture of lavender, black olive, graphite, cool rocks and pepper. The tannins are a bit aggressive for now, and I think prime drinking for this wine probably begins 2-4 years from now, though it is approachable now with a steak and a decant. I would expect the wine to age well for 10-15 years at least, probably longer.
It’s an admirable effort with tremendous character. It is more of a cerebral wine-geek / sommelier type wine at this stage, but I expect it will integrate and the fruit will show through better starting in a few years, or possibly with a long aeration now (we only had it within about two hours of the bottle opening, and without pouring into a decanter).
A nice effort by WBer Steve Nordhoff and his winemaker, Thomas Rivers Brown. And good value at the $45 release price.
There is not much more I can add to this thread that hasn’t been mentioned by Frank, Brig, and Chris already. While working through the wine over some time between the pinot, I was impressed with how the wine was in a such good place right now and look forward to seeing how it pans out over time. Only better is my thought. And Chris, absolutely agree that it is a nice value at the $45 price point.
Wanted to update the thread here, as it’s gotten a bit chilly here in the OC so knowing we were heading out to Laguna Beach last night for dinner, figured this would fit the bill. FWIW, we dined here again, http://www.marowoodgrill.com/ , which was the same place we drank the last bottle that is posted on earlier in the thread, FWIW. Thought Maro did a great job last night, took great care of us and will be heading back there again soon.
As to the wine that I am refreshing with the TN below, it’s showing fantastic. For those coming to Falltacular, we will have the wine out for pouring and you can talk smack to Steve about it! One thing for sure, this ain’t no slacker syrah, man.
2012 Riverain Syrah Cardiac Hill Bennett Valley- USA, California, Sonoma County, Bennett Valley (12/19/2014)
Opened yesterday, no decant. Saved 1/2 bottle for today, as the wine last night reflected structure and grip so I figured the aeration would bring the wine more completely out of its shell. Let me begin with a few observations. First, this wine is intensely dark, virtually pitch black in the stem. Aromatically, lots going on with an intriguing duality of both bacon fat and flowers in the aromatic, which is a combination I have found in some of the cooler climate Copain syrahs, for a comparable. With air, this fades out leaving olive, purple flower and potpourri. The texture? Dense, stuffed, with a charcoal-laced, earthy dark berry, boysen and black cherry fruit. Buried in all that is red fruited acidity, which for some at the table last night was a bit too much. However, I will say that the bottle that was getting all the attention last night was the Caymus 40th Anniversary cab, which seemed to have no acid and while I didn’t want to spoil that experience for the table, the Riverain clearly crushed that wine across the board, including on the acidity. Back to tonight, as this wine sits, the stuffing mellows a bit more and the wine starts to smooth out with a glassy quality, yet there is a pile of iron and dark tinged fruit in parallel. FWIW, at no time in my tasting here did the wine get gloppy, hot or boozy. If I recall, this is made in old barrels, with a good amount of whole cluster, which adds an herbal, green olive quality in the wine, as well. For full disclosure, the label is owned by a close friend but to dissuade any pessimism or perceived bias, I bought these bottles from my friend and created this note on my own accord—I’m not shilling here, just telling the story of my glass. Putting that now aside, CA syrah should aspire to drink and express in the way this wine is crafted. If enjoying color, acid, depth, removing wood and booze is wrong for wine, then color me wrong and this wine all right! Drink window? Hell, I suppose this wine could sit open for 4-5 days and be just fine so drink now with a decant/slow ox to get a sense for the depth and quality, but know it’s going to go another 5-8 years for sure.
At the rate I am drinking these, I will need to buy more. In the fervor of y/day’s BD, I figured what the hell, let’s do another. I took to a dinner to expose the wine to a few new people but I ended up watching it get lost in some of the fun conversation so selfishly, it all works out as I have plenty to enjoy tonight, even tomorrow.
For those who may have signed on y/day to buy some of these in Steve’s offer, here is some info that may help you as the wines eventually arrive. Thanks again for reading. PS–while Steve is a close friend, this TN and my comments about the wine, they remain mine and without him having any exposure to them prior.
2012 Riverain Syrah Cardiac Hill Bennett Valley- USA, California, Sonoma County, Bennett Valley (1/28/2015)
Opened y/day in honor of Berserker Day. Took to a small dinner where it got lost on the table but not lost on me, as I dragged the 1/2 full bottle back with me and simply kept it under open cork to taste again tonight. As I have wrote before but to confirm again, this is dark stuff, pitch black and if poured blind, I’d guess petite sirah. The aromatics exhibit the whole cluster treatment but there isn’t any menthol or stemmy green tones in the aromatic, just that cool note of cracked spice, garrigue. The palate does then pick up the chase a bit with the stems and has a bit of grainy structure, along with a plush dark fruit that is framed with black olive. Even with the air of last night and sitting in the glass tonight for about an hour at room temp (68), it has tightened a bit and so all of that dark fruit, the glimpse into the plushness of that fruit, it sits in some light chalk and moderate structure. Finishes with some earthy and plush dark blueberry, charcoal and some tapenade. All together, this is really a terrific marriage of new world CA fruit (sans the blowsy oak and booze) and the application of whole cluster and suave texture. Drink window? With air, this does pretty well but for those who want to age the wine, I’d say another 4 years. I’m not much into the romance of aging wines and all of that jazz so you can take my drink window as you wish.
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