TN: Five Calif Syrahs...(short/boring)

Tried these 5 over the last week:

  1. Novy Syrah DryCreekVlly (14.3%) 2006: Med.dark color w/ some bricking; some toasty/pencilly/Siduri oak slight raspberry/DryCreekVlly/blackberry/Syrah rather tired nose; soft rather tangy/metallic some pencilly/Siduri oak light blackberry/raspberry/Syrah rather tired/dried-out flavor w/ light metallic/dried-out/astringent tannins; long soft quite tangy/metallic/tired light Syrah/blackberry finish w/ tired/astringent tannins; a Syrah well beyond its prime but not at all ozidized.

  1. Novy Syrah SapphireHillVnyd/RRV (14.1%) 2006: Med.dark color w/ some bricking; some toasty/Siduri oak some blackberry/Syrah/peppery/spicy bit complex somewhat interesting nose; soft rather metallic/tangy strong toasty/Siduri oak/pencilly rather dried-out/tired flavor w/ light drying/astringent tannins; very long strong pencilly/Siduri oak slight blackberry/Syrah/peppery rather dried-out/metallic/tired/astringent finish; a some interesting Syrah nose but pretty tired/dried-out on the palate.

  1. Novy Syrah Rosella’sVnyd/SantaLuciaHighlands (14.5%) 2004: Dark rather murky/brown color; strong cedary/pencilly/Siduri oak slight blackberry/Syrah somewhat tired/dried-out nose; lightly tart some cedary/pencilly/oak pretty tangy/metallic rather tired/dried-out flavor w/ light astringent tannins; pretty tired/dried-out/dead&gone.

  1. Solminer Vollmond deLandaVnyd/SantaYnezVlly (13%; 97% Syrah/3% Blaufrankisch; www.Solminer.com) Lompoc 2013: Med.dark color; strong spicy/herbal/Syrah/blackberry bit earthy light pencilly/oak rather interesting nose; quite tart/tangy bit lean/metallic light blackberry/Syrah/spicy/herbal rather wired/coiled bit eviscerated flavor w/ light tangy tannins; long light/herbal/Syrah/blackberry/peppery quite tart/tangy rather lean/bit eviscerated finish w/ light tangy tannins; not quite as lean/spare/eviscerated as Arnot-Roberts but doesn’t give a lot of pleasure; don’t see this aging into anything interesting; not a style that I like so much.

  1. Carlisle Syrah Rosella’sVnyd/SantaLuciaHighlands (14.5%) 2004: Very dark/near black color w/ no bricking; very intense blackberry/Syrah/ripe some herbal/peppery/c-c/very spicy strong toasty/oak/smokey slight earthy/dusty rather complex nose; fairly tart/tangy big/rich/lush very strong blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah rather toasty/smokey/oak some herbal/c-c/peppery light Rhonish/roasted rather complex flavor w/ some drying tannins; very long/lingering intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/ripe some toasty/smokey/Fr.oak bit peppery/c-c/herbal/Rhonish finish w/ light ripe tannins; a lovely expression of SLH Syrah but probably not going to get any better.

A wee BloodyPulpit:

  1. I was a bit surprised as to how far gone the Novy Syrahs were. They had loads of fruit in their youth, but it had pretty much all gone by now. A Carlisle/Jaffurs/Ojai would not be so far gone at this age.
    Tom

Tom,

Did you drink these over multiple days? Did they fall off on Day 2?

I recently opened a 2014 Peay Syrah and it was outstanding on day 1 but declined significantly on day 2.

Dave

Tom, I have one final bottle of Novy left in my cellar, a 2006 Rosella’s. I’ve got good hopes for it and it’s a sentimental bottle too so I am just waiting for the right time to share it. I enjoyed the SLH Novys that Adam made, with this one bottle being the last of them. That vineyard when it was being expressed in the bottle had so many cool terroir driven notes that I still enjoy.

Yup, Dave. Tasted them all over several days.
The Novy’s were totally shot within a few hrs after opening. The Carlisle was pretty good over about 5 days, but
starting to get a bit ragged by day 5. The Solminer was pretty brutal on the palate the next day.
When I opened them, they were at the right temperature. When I retasted them, they were all on the warm side.
Tom