2006 Big Basin Vineyards Syrah Fairview Ranch- USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands (2/8/2009)
Juicy aromas along with asphalt. I bit much but it is interesting. On the palate it is plush and mouth coating. I really like the mid-palate which is almost pretty and then followed by sweet ripe fruit. Lots of acid but it is in the grapefruit (Fairview/SLH) vein. I wish there was more tannin. Really need to wait a few years for the fruit to tone down as this is primary and aggressive at this stage. Revisit in 4-7 years. (89 pts.)
2006 Verdad Tempranillo Santa Ynez Valley- USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley (2/7/2009)
This is the first wine I have tasted from Verdad. As the name implies, their focus is on Spanish grapes. The wine needed some air to blow off the reductive stink but opens up and shows nice blue and purple fruit. This could probably use some more bottle time as it did take awhile to open up. Nice medium/full bodied wine with lots of acidity. It is slightly sweet tasting which put me off a bit. Maybe as the fruit settles down that will be less noticeable. Glad to see more Tempranillo popping up in Cali and Oregon. (88 pts.)
Still waiting to pull the trigger on my lone bottle of Fairview for use in a SLH Syrah blind tasting, but sounds exciting. I loved the '06 Mandala, one of the most balanced and intriguing Cali Syrahs I’ve ever had, wasn’t as aggressive as the Fairview sounds. Just ordered the '06 Rattlesnake Rock, can’t wait to try that one. Have you had any of Big Basin’s Pinots?
Haven’t had the '06 Verdad, though just picked up an '05 at the new Qupe tasting room. Thought it was a textbook Tempranillo, nothing mindblowing, but delivered good varietal character, and at $19 retail ($13 for me ITB), an unbeatable value for the varietal, even with competing Rioja/Toro/Riberas. The '05 seemed less sweet to me than you’re describing (listed alc. at 13.5%), though the dollops of Grenache and Syrah on the '05 definitely added a more round fruit character to the more herbal/tobacco character of the Tempranillo.
I have. the 06 is very nice and tasted the 07s which great as well although they were way young. I am hopeful for the pinots and will continue to buy but I think it will be 3-5 years before we can really comment on the quality/distinctiveness.