TN: BonnyDoon Syrah X-Block '12-'14...(short/boring)

WINE TALK
1

My BonnyDoon fire sale arrived, so I tasted thru these three w/ Grayson ystrday afternoon:

  1. BonnyDoon Syrah X-Block/BienNacidoVnyd/SantaMariaVlly (13.7%; 12% Viog) 2014: Dark color; beautiful olive tapenade bit roasted/Rhonish/w-c strong blackberry/Syrah/spicy light smokey/toasty/oak rather complex nose; fairly tart/tangy/bit sharp/angular strong blackberry/black cherry/Syrah/black olive tapenade/very spicy/Rhonish bit lean/tangy flavor w/ modest tangy tannins; very long tart/tangy strong blackberry/Syrah/spicy some Rhonish/black olive tapenade/w-c fairly complex finish w/ some tangy/bitey tannins; lots of Rhonish/w-c character w/ lots of c-c/Syrah character; bit on the tart/tangy side and could use another 3-5 yrs. $20.00
  1. BonnyDoon Syrah X-Block/BienNacidoVnyd/SantaMariaVlly (13.5%) 2013: Dark color; stronger Syrah/blackberry/blueberry/spicy light Rhonish/roasted/w-c some complex nose; some tangy/tart strong blackberry/Syrah/blueberry/slight peppery/c-c Syrah light Rhonish/roasted fairly rich flavor w/ modest tangy/bit gritty tannins; very long/lingering strong blackberry/Syrah/spicy/bit peppery light Rhonish/w-c finish w/ some tangy tannins; much like the '14 but stronger blackberry/Syrah fruit and less complex less Rhonish character; could use a few more yrs of age. $20.00
  1. BonnyDoon Syrah X-Block/BienNacidoVnyd/SantaMariaVlly (13%) 2012: Dark color; stronger yet blackberry/Syrah/spicy/boysenberry/BN black cherry bit c-c/black pepper light Rhonish/w-c/roasted/espresso quite lovely nose; rather tart/tangy/bit angular slight toasty/smokey/oak strong blackberry/Syrah/BN black cherry fairly rich bit smoother light Rhonish/w-c/roasted flavor w/ modest tangy tannins; very long/lingering strong blackberry/black cherry BN Syrah/spicy light w-c/Rhonish/espresso light smokey/oak some complex finish w/ modest tannins; shows more classic BN black cherry Syrah fruit and less w-c/Rhonish character. $20.00

A wee BloodyPulpit:

  1. When the Miller’s planted BienNacido, they focused on cold-climate varieties, Pinot/Chard/Riesling. These were primarily planted down on the flats where the BN vnyd leads up into the canyon, planted in 1973. The X-block was a small portion on the southern-most edge that was planted to Riesling, where the vnyd starts to rise up into the hills above. In the mid-'80’s, X-Block was grafted, at the request of BobLindquist, over to Syrah, making the X-Block the 2’nd oldest Syrah planting in SBCnty. 'Tis a shame, because there were some stunning botrytis R (Thumbs Up) wines that came from X-Block. It was only later, again at Bob’s request, that the Millers planted Syrah and other things up atop the ridgetops, what is now called the Hillside Block.
    The X-Block Syrah goes primarily to BobLindquist and to Randall Grahm, although Morgan recently made X-Block Syrah at Bedrock (and a classic X-Block Syrah it is).
    The last BonnyDoon X-Block I tried was the '09:

All three of these X-Blocks were clearly cast from the same mold. I slightly preferred the '14 because of its greater complexity and stronger Rhonish character. All three displayed a tangy/angular character on the palate that I found distracting. I would have preferred a bit more richness & texture. Perhaps age will tone down that tangy character. At the original $60/btl price, the answer on these three would be an easy “no”. But at the fire sale price of $20, I thought the wines were a very good value.
Tom

2

Thanks for your TNs Tom. I got the '13 and agree that acid/tannin might benefit from more years to soften/round a bit.

Because of the screw caps I forgot a bottle that had been opened and re-capped 4 days prior (they are in our microwinery with other bottles). Very little discernible fruit but instead very strong olive tapenade to the point that it was not enjoyable.

Not recommending waiting that long but it was interesting how common Syrah olive note came to dominate.

3

Yup, Kim…same experience here. Had the ‘12-‘13 blend tonight, 2 days later, and it was all olive tapenade and no fruit to speak of. Not bad…but didn’t offer up much pleasure.
Tom

4

Tom,

How would you compare these to Qupe’s wines from the same block? Are these leaner than Bob’s?

Cheers

5

No comparison, Larry. I liked the aromatics on these OK, but they were hard/sharp/angular on the palate. Bob’s X-Block’s are much better texturely and much more fruit and don’t show as much w-c character.
Tom

6

The only one of these I tried was the '13 X-Block Syrah. I got a lot more oak, Otherwise similar impressions. Plan to leave them alone a few years to see if it comes together.

7

Appreciate the notes. I bought some of the '12 and '13. They don’t sound all that promising, but will cellar them for a few years and see what happens.

8

Thanks Tom. So you think Bob picks later? Or that the w/c in this case makes these wines too rustic and hard around the edges?

9

Don’t know, Larry, about their respective picking dates. Bob’s usually run about 14.5%, so probably pick a bit later.
But I would attribute the differences between Bob’s & Randall’s to the greater w-c Randall uses.
I would just like to see a little more richness & texture in Randall’s.
Tom

10

Had the ‘12 last week. I cannot emphasize enough that this wine needs a lot of air. After 3 hrs it was just starting to open up.

11

w-c?

12

Whole cluster?

If yes, doesn’t whole cluster usually raise pH and lower acidity?

13

Yup…whole-cluster.
Supposedly it does, but these were not low-acid wines.
Tom