2005 Ojai Syrah Bien Nacido Vineyard- USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Maria Valley (12/10/2010)
Opened 2 hours, did not decant. An inky purple, with a little metallic sheen to it. A deep and brooding bouquet, with savory aromas of sage, currants, smoked sausage, and pepper. Medium to full-bodied and smooth in texture. The fruit really comes out strong on the palate with nicely ripened red/black cherry and blueberry flavors, over a backdrop of dusty herb and white pepper. Has a feel of vibrant acidity, with peppery tannins- firm and fine- it has nice fruit now, and the structure is such that the savory backdrop should really enhance this with more time in the bottle. Nice, long finish too. (90 pts.)
I’ve not had the 05 Ojai, but have enjoyed the 05 Summerland effort from Block X fruit and it was mighty nice. A few remain which will stay horizontal for awhile longer. Bien Nacido Syrah
Block X is the oldest block of Syrah in BienNacido, dating back to the early '80’s when it was planted at the behest of
BobLindquist. In most yrs, the grapes go only to BobLindquist and RandallGrahm. In 2005, there was a little bit left over that went to Summerland. I thought it was a rather pretty
Syrah…but not nearly the stature of Bob’sX-Block Syrah. Randall sorta squanders away the great fruit from X-Block is my opinion.
The Ojai come from up on the Hillside Estate… that also goes to Jaffurs and a number of others. The Qupe Hillside Estate Syrah is pretty monumental as well.
Tom
Rich,
The BienNacido WebSite http://www.biennacidovineyards.com has a wealth of information to educate yourself.
The vnyd maps (and satellite photos) are especially interesting.
Tom
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