Syrah Saturday: Radio-Coteau, Alban Lorraine, Guigal d'Ampuis, Bohème & a Stickie

The Radio-Coteau was consumed during the afternoon, the rest in the evening with a variety of cheeses.

  • 2004 Radio-Coteau Syrah Timbervine - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley (9/19/2009)
    Popped and poured, enjoyed over 3 hours. Reticent nose and a bit bitter at the outset, really came around after 2 hours to reveal red fruits, white pepper, nice acidity, medium weight. Will hold remaining bottle for a couple of years.
  • 2002 Alban Vineyards Syrah Lorraine - USA, California, Central Coast, Edna Valley (9/19/2009)
    Popped, decanted and enjoyed over 4 hours. Wonderful smoky nose. Very harmonious wine, black stone fruits, spices, smooth, rich, viscous. Ridiculously long finish. A real treat.
  • 2000 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie Château d’Ampuis - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie (9/19/2009)
    Opened but not decanted for two hours, enjoyed over 4. Wonderful nose of dirt, smoke, blue fruits and flowers. A bit thin at the outset, a slight vegetal note. After a couple of hours, gained weight, richness and complexity on the palate, showing classic meat and cracked pepper notes.
  • 2005 Bohème Wines Syrah Que Syrah Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast (9/19/2009)
    Popped and poured, enjoyed over 2 hours. Nose of black pepper and black fruits. Meaty, rich, vibrant, almost a saline quality with a streak of acidity supporting. Nonstop finish.
  • 2005 Jorge Ordoñez Málaga Old Vines - Spain, Andalucía, Málaga (9/19/2009)
    Popped and poured to finish the cheeses. Like squeezing heirloom white peaches into a bath of comice pears, then straining the liquid. Sweet and rich without being cloying. Delicious.

Posted from CellarTracker

Brian - Great lineup. Question: I tried to find Boheme’s website and was directed to a different site that was not their page. I also searched the net for any additional info. Do they just operate through email/mail or are they no longer in business?

Josh,

That’s strange. I don’t know why the website isn’t working. They are definitely still in business, I just got charged last week for a vertical of syrah.

Try and get to them via Facebook, I think they have a page.

Thanks for the notes. Glad to hear about the state of the Radio Coteau. I brought this to a blind tasting 2 years ago and thought it would clean up but it showed a little too much heat and wood. Then I got try it about a week later where it showed a little better. Hoping it was just a little disjointed at that stage.

Jason