It being a weekend for celebrating the greatness of mothers, I spent a lot of time cooking and having fun with my wife, mother-in-law and little girl. Much wine was consumed. Notes are brief because I was busy being social while these wines were enjoyed.
Friday: 2006 Copain JBV Syrah – Popped and poured Friday night and only had a glass. It was too early in my book. The texture was very plush and velvety, to the point that it masked the fruit and mineral goodness I usually associate with Copain. On day 2, this was a different wine. All the fleshiness had receded, and the blue fruit and stones came out. The finish on this wine is long and lingering. I won’t open another one for a few years, but it was interesting to get a glimpse of its massive potential.
Saturday: 2006 Pax Cuvee Moriah – Mostly grenache, this was more or less tubed by The Palate (86 points) for being austere and thin. I found it to be lean and bright, but in a good way, offering cherry, spice and some herbs. The wine has great purity of fruit, and enough zippy acid cut to be a good food wine. Not a fruit bomb, but I’m happy with that. Nice wine, drinking well now, with several good years left.
Sunday: 2006 Saxum JBV – As tight and backward as the Copain was, this was the opposite. Decanted for four hours while M-Day dinner was being prepared, this was smooth, full-bodied and rocking from beginning to end. This wine has a lightness in the mouth that masks the high (16% +) abv, and it has an intriguing, smoky profile of dark, black fruit, roasted meat and something like tar – in a good way. The only complaint is that the alcohol poked through once the wine warmed up (the decanter spent some time on the table out on the deck during dinner), but it got better again when the wine was cooled down a little. All in all a nice foil for the Flannery lamb saddle on risotto with grilled portobellos on the side. The moms were impressed.
At the end of the weekend, the Saxum was the most impressive wine for drinking now, but the Copain will be a better wine in the end IMO. It has the materials to be a great wine in 3 or 4 years. The Pax is very nice, but at $60 from the winery plus shipping, there are better grenache bargains out there.
Cheers!