I had always wanted to try one of these, but I worried this was going to be DOA or just too spoofy. Damn metanarratives not accomodating all outcomes!
1997 Turley Petite Syrah Rattlesnake Acres - USA, California, Napa Valley (11/10/2012)
As good as a really big, ripe wine can be. Remarkably youthful, an intense nose of florals and stewed red fruit leaps from the glass as soon as this is poured. The florals on this are off the chart! In the mouth, its deep, mouth filling, mixed red and black fruits with some new-world apparent “sweetness”, but decidedly not raisined/pruned. Plenty of tannin left to provide structure but most of it has resolved, and the wine has a silky, thick, resolved mouth feel. Certainly “hot”, and certrainly lower in acid that I normally drink, but the tannin holds this together. Everything is complemented by notes of chocolate and earth - the chocolate seems to come more from the grape than any oak, as the apparent oak here is pretty minimal. A treat. Best PS I’ve ever had. (93 pts.)