I recently assessed my swelling inventory of Copain and realized it was time to check in on some older vintages. Thought it would be interesting revisit these at Age 10. So I pulled a few cases from storage and started sampling them with family over the weekend. I’ll go out on a limb and say I think 2002 was one of the best vintages for Copain’s syrahs, and these three wines (Hawks Butte, Broken Leg and Cailloux & Coccinelle) were each so different and yet all were outstanding. While more recent vintages are clearly more Rhone-like in character, with more acidity and dialed-back fruit, I think Wells was successful in the past in toeing the line between ripeness of fruit, balance, structure, and expression of site. In fact, with a few exceptions (notably, Hacienda Secoya), I always preferred his pre-2006 syrahs to the pinots, though now I feel his pinots have stepped up their game. Anyway, on to the wines…
2002 Copain Hawks Butte Syrah, Yorkville Highlands
Debut vintage for this site, and I can’t remember the last time I tried this, so it was probably shortly after release, maybe in 2004. Surprisingly restrained, especially on the nose, given how I usually associate this vineyard with a pronounced black olive/tapenade and mineral character. Much less expressive than in its youth, or compared to more recent vintages, this has settled down nicely and is probably at its peak (assuming you like your syrahs with a bit of age on them). For those keeping score, a solid 91.
2002 Copain Broken Leg Syrah, Anderson Valley
Debut vintage again, and unfortunately this vineyard had a short run with Copain before their fruit started going to A Donkey & A Goat, IIRC. From what I remember, RP gave this a ridunculous score, and this was $25 to boot. Interestingly, upon tasting the 2010 Baker Ranch with Jim & Ezra at the winery this past December, we were talking about how rare it was to make syrah from Anderson Valley, and we were all brainstorming to try to come up with another one (there are a number in Mendocino, such as Alder Springs, but far fewer in AV proper). Funny that this was one of them, but I guess that predated them both! Anyway, this had a killer nose of roasted meat, blackberries with a floral lift (think violets). Medium- to full-bodied with more restrained fruit than the nose suggested. Well balanced with a long finish and plenty of structure left, suggesting there’s more life left in this bottle. 93 pts.
2002 Copain Cailloux & Coccinelle Syrah, Walla Walla Valley
Another “has-been” from the Copain portfolio that I always took a liking to and sometimes wish was still around. Often mistakenly credited with being from Washington, I believe most of the fruit came from the Oregon side of the valley, hence the lack of any proper mention of statehood on the label. I was very pleased to see this showing so well because I went deep on the '04 since this was the last vintage, and a bottle I recently opened was a total mess. While I still hope that was an off bottle, this vintage was showing quite well. Nose of boysenberries and some iron shavings. Probably the biggest of the three, with noticeable tannins to match the rich black fruit. Developed a meatier edge with aeration and really seemed to improve quite a bit over the course of the evening, suggesting this is in no danger of fading. Apparently this vineyard was planted in a former stony riverbed, and I remember Wells making comparisons to CdP, which after tasting this, I would say are not far off the mark. 93 pts.
Overall, a diverse and impressive collection of syrahs. I was happy to realize that I need not be worried about drinking these up, as IMO, they are ageing very well.
Cheers,
Scott