Tried these two last night:
- OjaiVnyd Syrah SolomonHillsVnyd/SantaMariaVlly (14.6%) 2008: Dark color w/ slight bricking; strong toasty/smokey/Ojai oak some blackberry/Syrah/blueberry some earthy/Rhonish/roasted bit complex nose; lightly tart/angular strong toasty/smokey/Fr.oak some blackberry/blueberry/Syrah bit earthy/Rhonish bit alcoholic/hot flavor w/ light smooth tannins; long quite smokey/toasty/Ojai oak slight Rhonish/roasted some blackberry/blueberry/Syrah slight tangy finish w/ light gentle tannins; a nice middle-aged Ojai Syrah but nothing profound and unlikely to get much better.
- OjaiVnyd Syrah BienNacidoVnyd/SantaMariaVlly (14.5%) 2007: Very dark color w/ no bricking; beautiful blackberry/boysenberry/black cherry/black cherry cola/Syrah slight peppery modest smokey/toasty/Ojai oak quite Rhonish/roasted/smoked meats very perfumed complex nose; rather tart pungent/smokey/toasty/Fr.oak intense blackberry/black cherry/black cherry cola/Syrah quite Rhonish/roasted/smoked meats/espresso structured/balanced beautiful/complex flavor w/ modest smooth/gentle tannins; very long/lingering slight earthy/dusty very strong blackberry/Syrah/black cherry cola quite Rhonish/roasted/smoked meats/espresso very complex finish w/ light smooth/resolved tannins; a beautiful very Rhonish classic BienNacido Syrah that will go another 3-8 yrs.
A wee BloodyPulpit:
- Once again, the pedigree of the vnyd comes thru. The SolomonHills vnyd comes from rather sandy soil on gently rolling hills just NW of BienNacido. The BN Syrah would have come from the Hillside block that also goes to Qupe & Jaffurs. I’ve never been particularly impressed w/ the wines that come from SolomonHillsVnyd.
Tom