We tried this mystery wine last night:
1. NevadaRidge Syrah Nevada (Plntd in 2009; www.NVWine.com; 14.9%) Bill&Gretchen Loken/Pahrump/NV 2015: Very dark color; intense eucalyptus intense boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah very ripe huge fruit nose; slightly tart very ripe/boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah/chocolaty intense eucalyptus bit fat/rich/lush mouthfilling very ripe flavor w/ some smooth ripe tannins; very long very ripe/chocolaty/boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah/intense fruit slightly tart/balanced intense eucalyptus finish w/ modest smooth/ripe tannins; loads of eucalyptus anf huge Syrah fruit; amazingly good...given the source. $35.00
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Steve had been to the restaurant the night before and rather liked this wine, so brought it as a mystery wine to share. The eucalyptus jumped right out and the huge fruit was obviously Syrah. I thought it possibly Lodi Syrah or overripe Paso Syrah, but the eucalyptus thru those guesses off. Which left only BarossaVlly Syrah as the guess. When it was revealed as Pahrump Syrah, everybody was flabbergasted.
Steve showed a pic of the Syrah he took the day before and there was already some raisening of the berries. So I'm guessing this wine was harvested in late July. Probably had a tartaric addition because the acid was pretty much in balance. Yet the wine didn't seem particularly raisened/pruney/LateHrvsty and carried the alcohol pretty well. Needs to be served slightly cool rather than room temp...more like cellar temp.
Though not a profound expression of Syrah, it resembles a decent/mid-range BarossaVlly or SouthAustralia Shiraz. Given what must be pretty miserable growing conditions in PahrumpVlly, this wine is amazingly good.
NevadaRidge is one of the labels used by PahrumpVllyWnry. I gather it is only for wines that are grown in Nevada, so their high-end label. They also make wines from Calif-grown grapes. Of the dozen or so NV wines I've tried, this is heads&shoulders the best.
Steve also reports that their restaurant, Symphony, is remarkably good as well.
Tom