Cracked this Monday night:
- AlbanVnyd Syrah Reva AlbanEstate/EdnaVlly (13%) 1994: Very dark color w/ no bricking; slight reduced/sewer gas/pungent strong smokey/pungent/charred/oak bit roasted/tarry slight Rhonish strong ripe/blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/licorice intense some complex nose; rather tart fairly hard/tannic strong pungent/charred/oak/tarry/licorice some blackberry/Syrah/licorice/herbal some complex flavor; rather long fairly tart quite hard/tannic/structured pungent/charred/burnt/oak some licorice/blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry/herbal rosemary/thyme/spicy/pungent finish; bit reduced and interesting nose but very hard/tannic on the palate.
2.Next Night: Very dark color w/ no bricking; reduced/sewer gas aroma gone; more roasted/tarry some bretty strong blackberry/black cherry/cola/Syrah/licorice/pungent bit Rhonish rather complex nose; slightly tart much softer/smoother strong blackberry/black cherry/cola/Syrah/licorice light charred/toasty/burnt/oak slight Rhonish/pungent/smokey rather attractive flavor; long smooth/softer strong blackberry/black cherry/Syrah/licorice/pungent/tarry slight Rhonish/roasted quite smooth complex finish; much more attractive on the palate the 2’nd night.
A wee BloodyPulpit:
- Over the last few months, I’ve been trying some of my older Albans. Usually, I’ll put them into a tasting; where I have only one shot at the wine, then retry it several hrs later. The wines start out when released as huge/massive/extracted Syrahs. The kind that you just know will develop into great wines with sufficient age. I guess I’m not finding that to be necessarily so.
When I cracked this Mon night; the cork pretty much disintegrated, so had to pass it thru my filter funnel. But there was no signs of browning or bricking to indicate the wine had been comprised by the cork.
On tasting Mon night; I rather liked the nose, thought it pretty much in the classic Alban style. But on the palate, the wines was fiercely tannic and hard…a wine that didn’t seem as if it’d ever come together. Pretty typical of the Albans I’d been trying.
So I was quite surprised when I tried it Tues night. It had smoothed out, softened, and became much more attractive on the palate. Contrary to wines I usually leave out overnight (this was left in the decanter, but not covered or anything). It had lost the reductive stink, but pretty much had the same aromatic and flavor profile of the night before. It still was a pretty massive/primary Syrah annd I didn’t see much development of the secondary character, the bottle bouquet, the complexity you get in some mature Calif Syrahs.
This was a bit at odds w/ Buzz’s recent tasting of this wine, where it was the highlight of the Alban Syrah tasting. Different btls/different wines/different palates/different venues…couldn’t expect them to be the same.
So I’m a bit perplexed about how John’s Syrahs are evolving. His first Syrah was the '93. It was much lighter and dominated by toasty/charred oak and not that much fruit. With this '94 vintage, John hit it outta the park w/ huge/massive/extracted fruit; which has been pretty much his style from then on out. Though many have been rather more alcoholic than this anemic 13% (assuming that figure is correct).
So…as I taste back thru the older ones, I’m not finding they are developing that complexity I like in an older/mature Syrah. Like the EdmundsStJohn/Boheme/Failla/Jaffurs/Ojai; particularly the Qupe. They seem to soften the tannins on the palate, but they seem to stay pretty much classic Alban Syrahs. Which, I might add, is not a bad thing. But I’ve yet to have an older Alban Syrah that absolutely knocked my socks off. Maybe they just need more time than I’ve given them. This '94…I see no reason it’ll not still be going strong in another 10 yrs. Maybe then, it’ll develop that nuanced complexity I’m searching for, and find in other Calif Syrahs. Maybe it’ll just drop more fruit and the alcoholic character come to the forefront. As usual, I’m clueless.
Tom