TN: Qupe Syrah BienNacidoHillside '98...(short/boring)

WINE TALK
1

Had this with Susan Fri night:

  1. Qupe Syrah BienNacido Hillside Estate SantaMariaVlly (EB; 13.5%) Robert N.Lindquist/SantaMaria 1998: Med.dark color w/ light browning; very strong blackberry/Syrah/very spicy quite Rhonish/smokey/smoked meats/roasted soime whole-cluster/peppery some cold-climate/black pepper quite complex nose; quite tart/tangy/bit metallic strong blackberry/blueberry/Syrah/very spicy/c-c peppery rather Rhonish/roasted meats some w-c/peppery slightly dried out quite complex flavor w/ light tangy/drying tannins; very long/lingering very smokey/Rhonish/roasted meats some blackberry/blueberry/Syrah/very spicy some w-c/c-c/peppery strong Qupe/smokey/oak quite complex finish w/ light dryig tannins; a beautiful classic Qupe fully mature Syrah; still has loads of Syrah fruit but starting to show that slight metallic/drying character on the palate that shows in a wine starting its decline; a beautiful fully mature Qupe Syrah.

A wee BloodyPulpit:

  1. I was expecting this Syrah to be pretty far gone. It was not. Still had plenty of classic Qupe Syrah BN fruit, though will not be getting any better.
    Tom
2

Was this the same wine we had with Bob and Steve in Oakland at Bay Wolf a few years back? I thought it showed well but not great…

3

My recollect is that it was. But not sure.
Tom

4

The '99 and the '01 are equally great.

5

Just a FYI…Las Vegas retailer Lee’s had a 40th anniversary sale a week ago and the theme was “1981 prices.” They had the 2016 version of this wine for the comparable 1981 price: $4.98. Not sure if that’s accurate, but it is quite a deal.

6

This wine was finished ‘post sale’ to Vintage IIRC - so pricing might be right [snort.gif]