We tried this week (1/11/12) some Bedrock and Arnot-Roberts Syrahs:
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Arnot-Roberts Syrah NorthCoast (13%) 2009: Dark color; rather earthy/dusty some blackberry/Syrah slight bretty bit
pungent/Rhonish/licorice light toasty/oak interesting nose; fairly tart rather earthy/dusty/Kansas root cellar/wet
pavement slight Rhonish/pungent/smokey light toasty/oak slight bretty flavor; med.long tart rather earthy/dusty/wet
pavement slight Rhonish/smokey/pungent some blackberry/Syrah rather tannic/hard finish; needs some age yet; much
like a mid-range StJoseph; not that distinctive and a bit muddled in character. $35.00
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Arnot-Roberts Syrah NorthCoast (11.9%) 2010: Dark color; beautiful Rhonish/peppery/smokey/espresso/roasted light
blackberry/Syrah complex nose; very tart almost screechy cranberry/Syrah/blueberry rather Rhonish/coffee/roasted bit
floral/violets/lilacs elegant flavor w/ some tannins; med.long quite tart cranberry/Syrah/blueberry somewhat Rhonish/
coffee light floral/violets elegant finish w/ fair tannins; needs 2-5 yrs; a rather tart/lean fairly Rhonish/
perfumed Syrah. $35.00
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Arnot-Roberts Syrah Griffin’sLairVnyd/PetalumaGap/SonomaCoast (4 brls; 13.2%) 2009: Very dark/black color; strong
earthy/mushroomy/dusty/wet pavement some Rhonish/coffee/roasted/smokey/bacon fat/meaty bit ozone/pungent some
blackberry/Syrah quite complex lovely nose; tart/tangy rather meaty/bacon fat/smoked beef jerky rather Rhonish/
coffee/roasted bit ozone/pungent mushroomy/earthy some blackberry/Syrah/vinyl plastic complex flavor; long tart/tangy
somewhat Rhonish/roasted/smokey/bacon fat some blackberry/Syrah finish w/ fair tannins; needs 2-6 yrs of age; my
easy favorite of these A-R Syrahs; rather Hermitage like in character. $56.00
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Arnot-Roberts Syrah HudsonVnyd/NorthBlock/LosCarneros/NapaVlly (2 brls; 12.7%) 2009: Very dark color; strong ripe/
blackberry/black cherry/Syrah some smokey/gunpowder/used fireworks light Rhonish/roasted lovely nose; slightly tart
ripe/blackberry/Syrah/black cherry light Rhonish/roasted/smokey flavor; very long some tart ripe/blackberry/Syrah/
black cherry/boysenberry light pungent/Rhonish/roasted finish w/ fair tannins; needs 3-6 yrs of age; a rather chunky/
blocky Syrah w/ lots of ripe fruit; not as much cold-climate character as I expected. $56.00
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Arnot-Roberts Syrah AlderSpringsVnyd/MendocinoCnty (4.5 brls; 11.8%) 2009: Dark color; rather herbal/earthy/dusty some
light blackberry/Syrah slight menthol interesting nose; quite tart rather cranberry/Syrah somewhat earthy/chalky/herbal
tangy/grapefruity strange flavor; med.long very tart/cranberry/Syrah herbal/earthy/chalky/mineral finish w/ some tannins;
a rather peculair Syrah and have no idea what it’ll evolve into. $56.00
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BedrockWineCo Syrah SonomaCoast (14.4%; 33%-50% whole cluster; WildcatMtnVnyd + Griffin’sLair +
small amount of OldLakeville & Hudson vnyds; 14 brls) 2010: Dark color; lovely strong blackberry/Syrah/licorice quite
spicy light toasty/oak very attractive nose; tart bit metallic/tangy strong blackberry/Syrah light toasty/oak quite
spicy almost Zin-like flavor w/ some tannins; med.long quite spicy/cinnamon strong blackberry/Syrah light toasty/oak
finish w/ modest tannins; plenty of straightforward blackberry/Syrah fruit and a lot of spiciness that reminds me
of Bedrock Zin as much as Syrah; quite a lovely Syrah at a great price. $21.00
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BedrockWineCo Syrah Griffin’sLairVnyd/PetalumaGap/SonomaCoast (14.0%; 2 demi-muids + 2 brls; 13.9%) 2009: Very dark
color; strong ripe/blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah light smokey/Rhonish/roasted somewhat spicy quite interesting nose;
softer strong ripe/blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah light smokey/roasted/pungent/coffee bit tannic/hard quite spicy/
cinammon flavor; very long somewhat tannic/hard strong/ripe/blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah light smokey/pungent bit
Rhonish/roasted/coffee quite spicy finish w/ fairly hard tannins; lots of spicy character that speaks of Bedrock
winemaking; not quite the intensity of cold-climate Syrah character as the A-R; needs 2-6 yrs yet. $37.00
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BedrockWineCo Syrah OldLakevilleVnyd/SonomaCoast (35% whole-cluster; 14.2%; 6 brls) 2009: Dark color; strong cold-climate/
black pepper/blackberry/Syrah quite spicy some roasted/Rhonish/smokey/espresso some pungent/licorice/DrPepper complex
lovely nose; tart very strong cracked black pepper/cold-climate/Syrah strong blackberry/Syrah/licorice/pungent
some roasted/espresso/Rhonish complex lovely flavor; very long quite peppery/cracked black pepper/cold-climate some
blackberry/Syrah/licorice/pungent some roasted/Rhonish/espresso/bacon fat fairly hard/tannic finish; needs 2-6 yrs
of age yet; my favorite of the Bedrocks because of the strong cold-climate/peppery/Rhonish character; terrific Syrah
at a great price. $30.00
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LarkmeadVnyds Syrah FamilyEstate/NapaVlly (14.3%; www.Larkmead.com) 2008: Very dark color; loads of toasty/vanilla/
oak very ripe/blackberry/Syrah/blackcurranty big fruit nose; soft rather tannic very strong vanilla/oak intense
blackberry/blackcurranty/Syrah some toasty/charred rather NapaCab-like flavor; very long strong vanilla/toasty/charred/
oak intense blackberry/blueberry/blackcurranty/Syrah rather tannic finish w/ ample tannins; speaks more of NapaCab than
of Syrah; needs much age and hard to tell where it will go. $45.00
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Failla Syrah PhoenixRanch/NapaVlly (14.8%) 2004: Very dark color; very strong pungent/smokey/charred/Rhonish strong
blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah almost Paso-like/overripe rather complex pseudo-Rhone nose; soft strong blackberry/
boysenberry/Syrah/black cherry very ripe/Paso-like huge fruit rather toasty/oaky/smokey bit Rhonish/smokey flavor w/
light tannins; long ripe/boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah some toasty/smokey/oak slight Rhonish/smokey finish w/ light
tannins; lots of very ripe fruit and almost Paso-like in style. $45.00
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HugCllrs Syrah Rena’sBlock/BassettiVnyd/SLOCnty (13.9%) 2005: Very dark color; very strong complex cold-climate/
peppery/licorice/ozone/pungent boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah/ripe fairly complex nose much like EdStJohn Bassetti;
tart/acid intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/licorice/pungent some Rhonish/coffee/roasted bit menthol/black cherry
cough drop some RCCola/DrPepper light toasty/oak complex flavor w/ some tannins; very long RCCola/DrPepper/root beer
very strong ripe/blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/licorice some peppery/cold-climate light toasty/oak complex finish w/ light
tannins; a terrific Syrah w/ lots of ripe character but plenty of cold-climate character as well; probably as good as
it’s every going to be; a simply stunning Syrah. $32.00
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Carlisle Syrah SonomaCnty (125 cs; 15.8%) 1999: Very dark color w/ no bricking; very ripe blackberry/boysenberry/
Syrah/milk of magnesia strong toasty/vanilla/Fr.oak rather minty/menthol/eucalyptus very ripe but not particularly
alcoholic nose; soft very ripe/boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah strong toasty/Fr.oak big fruit rather primary flavor
w/ some tannic flavor; long slight hot/alcoholic intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/ripe some minty/menthol bit
toasty/vanilla/oak finish w/ some tannins; still lots of primary/ripe Syrah fruit and not developing much nuance
yet; carries the alcohol well despite a bit on the finish; still needs more age, though the tannins have softened some.
And the usual BloodyPulpit:
- Arnot-Roberts: I have, of course, followed Nathan & Duncan’s wines from the very start, when they showed them at
RhoneRangers and HospicesDuRhone. Their Syrahs were, obviously, my focus, but they make some other interesting wines as
well. They aim for a lower alcohol Syrah w/ more balance & restraint than most Calif Syrahs shoow. And I think they
do this style very/very well. Sometimes, they show a lot of roasted/Rhonish character; sometimes they speak strongly
of the vnyd/terroir. Mostly, they focus on the more cold-climate Syrah vnyds, particularly in the PetalumaGap.
I believe in the 2010 vintage, they were unable to ripen the ClaryRanch Syrah. Duncan repoorted it (at the Syrahs
of Balance seminar in Sebastapol) that it was so tart it tasted like cranberry juice. Guess that’s the risk of growing
Syrah on the edge. I suspect that that wine went into this NorthCoast, where it was blended w/ some riper stuff. Did
a pretty good job of salvaging it, I thought.
One thing I noted in these Syrahs was there seemed to be a fair amount of bubbles around the edge, but no signs
of dissolved CO2 that I could identify.
Of these '09 Syrahs, the Griffen’sLair was easily my favorite because of its strong Rhonish character; closely
followed by the Hudson. The AlderSprings pretty much fit my preconceptions of Syrah from this vnyd. It doesn’t display
as much cold-climate Syrah character as I have ever expected and it just seems to be missing something that would
make me expect this to be a great Syrah vnyd. Jury’s still out in my mind.
- Larkmead: When I was visiting DanPetroski/Massican early last yr, at Larkmead where he is assoc winemaker, he mentioned
that they made a Syrah at Larkmead; so I bought a btl to try. I thought it was a pretty big/intense Syrah, but, like
many up-Valley/non-Carneros Syrahs; it reminded me of Syrah made by a Cabernet producer. It’s pretty big & structured
and may evolve into something interesting; but many of them don’t.
- Bedrock Syrahs: I’ve only tasted Morgan’s Syrahs on a hit or miss basis, so was glad to put these three new ones
together. The wines, much like MikeOfficer’s, speak strongly of the Bedrock winemaking and show a distinct sort of
spiciness that are common to his Zins and old-vine wines; yet they are distinctly different Syrahs. A welcome
newcomer to the Calif Syrah scene I’d say.
- Griffin’sLair: Been following this vnyd from the very start, when PaxMahle started using it at PaxWines. He still
takes grapes from Griffin’sLair for his WindGap label. From my experience, it’s truly one of the unique and great
cold-climate Syrah vnyds in Calif; though it doesn’t seem to consistently show the cold-climate/Rhonish character
that the OldLakeville vnyd seems to do. Don’t know that I can yet identify the Griffin’sLair terroir, but I’ll
continue to take data points.
- HugCllrs: I have, of course, followed Augie & Racquel Hug’s wines from the very start. I first met Augie when on a
visit to JohnAlban’s wnry, where Augie was then making his wines. He sorta joined us in our tasting w/ John & Glen,
then waylaid us before we could escape to try his wines. Glad I did, as they made a very good impression. I would,
of course, meet up w/ them again & again at Hospices du Rhone, where we’ve shared a lot of wines over the yrs.
Great people…though their bowling skills are pretty marginal.
Some of his early wines would occasional show signs of bacterial issues, but he soon figured that out and the
wines I’ve tried since then have all been good/sound/solid wines. Augie (and SteveEdmunds) were the first people
to take Syrah grapes from Susan & Ellis Bassetti’s very cold Syrah vnyd way out towards Cambria west of PasoRobles.
Not sure where all Bassetti grapes go to these days.
Tom