On the last 2 occasions Ive traveled to the Boise area for family visits, Ive contacted my friend and wine shop owner, Brian Erickson, of Erickson`s Fine Wines in nearby Eagle, to set up a dinner to share some good wines at a local restaurant with some of the wine passionate locals.
On this most reason visit, 7 of us enjoyed some good wines with a theme of Syrah and Syrah blends at a good restaurant, Dish, We had a semi private set up in their upstairs seating area and were graciously attended to by a dedicated and conscientious server.
I have discovered the locals are quite fond of Washington State wines which I have had only a relatively limited amount of exposure to although I have enjoyed many wines from different producers over the past few decades. On this night, I got to taste a few more as well as a couple of Rhones. We started with:
1996 DUVAL LEROY BRUT MILLESIME- from my small local cellar, I pulled this and another out for the night and was disappointed to fine this one was flawed with both VA and oxidative influences; Ive enjoyed many of these in the past and found them to be a more than decent bubbly from this stellar vintage, what compounds this champagnes poor showing is I also brought a champagne to the last dinner and it was corked.
We moved on to:
2010 GRAMERCY CELLARS LIDIOT du VILLAGE COLUMBIA VALLEY WALLA WALLA VALEY- 80% Syrah, 13% Mourvedre, 4% Grenache and 4% Cinsault; this was super good and when it was all said and done, my WOTN; I loved that it was in perfect balance and had a soft and smooth mouthfeel carrying its treasures all the way to the back end; its young, vibrant, big and round and yet with finesse; the nose was a bit muted at first but it opened up and revealed some treasures to follow which included a mild hit of spice and pepper and mineral infused violets, blueberry and black fruit, all moving on and through; a major treat.
2011 DUNHAM CELLARS WINE CLUB MILLENNIUM SYRAH COLUMBIA VALLEY- a special wine made in limited quantities and sold only to their wine club members; it had a nice inviting nose of spicy peppered fruitcake which became further defined by the addition of white pepper, vanilla oak, plum, red, black and blue fruit all being delivered in a smooth, medium bodied texture; it kept unfolding and eventually moved into a more orderly, balanced state showing complexity, depth and length; 14.2$ abv.
2010 SPARKMAN DARKNESS SYRAH COLUMBIA VALLEY YAKIMA VALLEY- as with the first 2, this is another new producer to me and as those before, it provided some pleasure and intrigue and an awareness to revisit and explore more from these wineries down the line; this wine had an entirely different profile and sensory experience in that it was more subtle and required lots of in depth olfactory and taste attention to realize the pearls inherent within; there was some must, earth and smoke character that worked its way into the lightly spiced dried and wild fruit flavors which included some plum, black currant and blackberry and at mid palate, some tar came in to play; 14.9% abv.
2001 CHATEAU de BEAUCASTEL CHATEANEUF du PAPE- 30% Grenache, 30% Mourvedre, 10% Syrah, 10% Counoise, the remaining 20% was made up of other permissible varietals; I thought the 10% Syrah notes showed more prevalence than any of the other varietals primarily with rose petals, bacon, spice and a tinge of pepper showing up; the wine also had some minerality, licorice, leather and black olive notes; this bottle was on the mild and light side of the profile I usually experience; it displayed lots of elegance and had a stately aura that suggested class.
1999 PAUL JABOULET LA CHAPELLE HERMITAGE- this also came from my local cellar and was one of the best bottles Ive had of 10 or so in the past few years; the vintage seemingly was a light weight compared to others in the 90s and I was very pleased to find this one showing so well; it had a light red color without any sign of aging and the aromatics had a bit of spice and mild red fruit notes that carried on and by mid palate were joined by some wild black and red berry fruit; the tannins were soft and easy on the palate and nicely integrated; I could drink this version anytime and be happy.
This was a good night. We had wine passionate people sharing some energy together and the venue, food and service all worked synergistically to provide a splendid time.
Cheers,
Blake