Tried these two Syrahs last night:
- Novy Syrah Susan’sHillVnyd/SantaLuciaHighlands (15.4%) 2011: Very dark/near black color; very strong blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah some black pepper bit herbal/garrigue/rosemary light toasty/oak quite spicy nose; rather tart/tangy/grapefruity very strong blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry/peppery/bit herbal light toasty/oak/pencilly/vanilla flavor w/ some bitey tannins; very long very strong blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry/peppery/herbal quite tart/grapefruity rather herbal/rosemary/spicy light pencilly/toasty/oak finish w/ ample angular tannins; needs 2-6 yrs; a classic SLH/herbal Syrah w/ loads oof fruit; rather hard/tannic/structured for a Novy. $28.00
- Luca Laborde DoubleSelect Syrah UcoVlly/Mendoza (Planted: 1971/SelectioneMassale/RhoneVlly; www.VineCollections.com; 14.0%; L1209013108-8:37) 2011: Very dark/black color; very strong smokey/pungent/toasty/burnt/oak some bretty/unclean/horsecolla very earthy/loamy/SouthAmerican some peppery/blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry nose; soft quite sour/earthy/loamy rather unclean/bretty/barnyardy strong toasty/charred/burnt/pungent/oak flavor w/ light bitey/prickly tannins; quite bretty/unclean/barnyardy very hard/sour/earthy/loamy some blackberry/Syrah quite earthy/loamy very coarse/rustic rather charred/burnt/oak finish w/ light hard/bitey tannins; a sour/coarse/loamy classic SouthAmerica rendition of Syrah. $24.00 (KK)
A wee BloodyPulpit:
- Novy: I have, of course, followed the Novy Syrahs from the very start. Over the yrs, they seems to have a stylistic consistency that I characterize as a “Syrah made by a Pinot producer” and typically display the Siduri oak signature. They generally have soft/round tannins that make them drinkable right out the gate…though their balance allows them to age quite well.
This Susan’sHill struck me as quite a bit different than Adam’s previous Syrahs. The oak struck me as a bit different. It is much more tannic & structured than earlier ones have been. Maybe the first one that I thought badly needed some age to become drinkable. Maybe one of Adam’s best Syrahs yet.
- Luca: This is a Syrah that I saw some good reviews for, so thought I’d try it. I’m not a big fan of SA reds, esppecially Malbec. I find they often have a coarse/sour character on the palate; lots of earthy/loamy character, and often loads of oak. Though this wine showed plenty of blackberry/Syrah character; it fit the SA red profile to a T, plus was pretty unclean. Maybe a mole sauce would tame this beast, but don’t think I’ll bother w/ it.
Tom