Part of a blind tasting last night, the 1999 Joseph Phelps Syrah (Monterey) was an absolute stunner. The wine was full of older Syrah funk, dried herbs, meat, floral and earthy elements. Rich and balanced (13.8% alcohol by the way), it was also lively on thwe palate, and had incredible depth of flavor. I would neevr have expected a 1999 Monterey Syrah to develop in such a positive way for such a long time, but that’s one of the fun elements of blind tasting - preconceptions shattered!
I’ve never heard of that bottling. I assumed all their syrahs were from Napa.
John,
Here is a link to an article in Wine Spectator back in 08 about the sale of a vineyard they owned down in Monterey that was the source for their Vin de Mistral line of wines.
http://www.winespectator.com/webfeature/show/id/Joseph-Phelps-Sells-Le-Mistral_4213
Cheers!
Thanks, Larry. My recollection was that they tore out the original syrah vines in Napa because of phylloxera and I thought they’d replanted elsewhere in the valley. Do I have that wrong? Or did they later shift to sourcing from Monterey?
If I remember correctly, there were sourcing from other vineyards in Napa for their syrah grapes - though I could be wrong.
Cheers!
You are never wrong just more accurate sometimes than others. 