TN: 2006 Copain Syrah James Berry Vineyard (USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles)

WINE TALK
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  • 2006 Copain Syrah James Berry Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles (8/8/2009)
    Popped and poured, enjoyed over three hours. Dark and brooding color. Black olives, tar, dark fruits, pepper. Strikingly elegant, fresh and pure. Nice balance of sweet and savory, superb finish.

Posted from CellarTracker

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Interesting Brian. We just had the 05 JB the other night and thought it to be all about the fruit, with no savory or herb notes. Maybe a riper vintage in 05, or a conscious less ripe style, as Wells has been heading in that direction in the last few years.

3

John,

The black olive was the dominant presence on the nose. The black fruits hit the palate first, then the savory elements and limestone influence kicked in and took over. Very interesting wine which will age very nicely over the next decade.

4

I can’t wait to try some of Wells’s 07’ SYrahs. Sounds like they are some great wines.

5

I can add some discussion here since the two of you hit on some recent tasting I did. We compared the 2004 and 2006 side by side, which was preceded a few days before by the 2005. I had not tasted these wines in some time and wanted to see how they were coming along.

  • 2004 Copain Syrah James Berry Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles (7/25/2009)
    I decanted this wine, let it set for about an hour, splashed it around and returned to bottle. We then finished it over the next 4 hours. There is some stem presence on this wine, but not as much as I would have thought, as the integration on that piece for me has seemed to occurred well enough. There is some some loam, some blood, but even with more air, the richness of the wine emerges to show blackberry and some black raspberry, along with some chalk, as if the limestone was talking through the wine. Big boned but complex enough to carry it. Suggest a full decant to let the wine fully evolve. I suspect another 3-5 years of drinking life ahead, as it reaches into peak.
  • 2006 Copain Syrah James Berry Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles (7/25/2009)
    Drank next to the 2004 Copain James Berry, an intentional comparison, as I opened the 2004 to go with it, along with previously drinking the 2005 about a week ago. Has more white flower aromatics versus the 2004, along with steely element, perhaps some heat. A juicy and broad palate, still young but as opposed to the 2004, pretty well packed and needs more time in the bottle. Forward and expressive.
  • 2005 Copain Syrah James Berry Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles (7/21/2009)
    Pours dark, but not opaque. Lifted, high toned nose that is both floral, but also some stems, although not as high as some past cuvees from Wells I have opened (I’d guess this is probably 50-ish%?). Black fruited but more blue on pour, some chalk, licorice, charcoal, with a tight finish. Clearly needs time to open and unfold. At 2 hours, the wine is still tight, with also some crushed rocks, almost like tasting the limestone from the vineyard. Needs still 1-2 more years.

Posted from CellarTracker

As with you guys, on the 2005, the limestone surely is woven into the wine. Interesting how we both picked up on that aspect.

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Sweet. Delicious wine. I like the Wells version of James Berry better than Saxum or anybody else’s.

7

Great notes. Copain JBs are turning into one of my favorite wines.

8

Nice notes/ I am partial to the Copain Hawks Butte but will have to try Well’s James Berry to compare to Saxum and others.

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It’s funny, I have always avoided the JB due to the size of the wines that most others make. Should have known better with Wells’ wines though.
On another note, I saw a couple of notes on the stems aspect, was curious if any one had recently re-visited the 2003 Gary’s Whole Cluster recently? I did this a year ago and it was insane. One of the most aromatically interesting wines I have ever had.

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Brian,
Thanks for the note. I was a big fan of this wine when I popped one about a week after receiving it from Copain about a year ago. I found it needed a coupel of hours to settle down, but once it did, gangbusters.

I think we need to do an 07 Copain JB vs. 07 Saxum JB (I know there is grenache in there but c’mon and work with me) vs. 07 Carlisle JB and see who is the undisputed king of JB!

11

Thanks for the note. I tasted this over three days and it stayed virtually the same. I pushed my drinking window out a few more years for my next bottle.

Jason

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Me too. I thought the one I had about two months ago was too young and primary and never really opened up in more than two days.