Tried these two last night:
1. Drew Syrah Ridgeline MencoRidge (295 cs; 14.4%; www.DrewWines.com) Elk 2006: Dark color w/ slight bricking; strong blackberry/Syrah/very spicy some peppery/cracked black pepper/cold-climate Syrah light toasty/oak bit Rhonish/smoked meats lovely nose; fairly tart strong spicy/Syrah/blackberry slight smoked meats/Rhonish light toasty/oak bit complex flavor w/ light bit angular/astringent tannins; very long/lingering strong blackberry/Syrah/spicy bit peppery/c-c Syrah some Rhonish/smokey complex finish w/ light slightly hard tannins; quite an attractive structured fully mature c-c Syrah.
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2. Drew Syrah BrokenLegVnyd/AndersonVlly (115 cs; 14.5%) 2006: Very dark color w/ no bricking; very strong ripe/blackberry/Syrah/spicy very light black pepper/c-c Syrah slight mineral/graphite/pungent light toasty/smokey/oak more complex nose; bit softer slight tangy/graphite/mineral/metallic strong blackberry/blueberry/Syrah/very spicy light black pepper/c-c Syrah more complex flavor w/ modest crunchy tannins; very long very strong spicy/blackberry/blueberry/Syrah slight earthy/peppery light toasty/oak bit complex finish w/ some hard/crunchy tannins; more of a Calif-style Syrah and less Rhonish character; structured fully mature and not going to get better.
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. I'm a big fan of JasonDrew's Syrahs. Much different in style than what he did down in SantaBarbara.
I presume the Ridgeline Syrah is a blend of Valenti and Perli vnyds.
These two were clearly birds of a feather and very similar stylistically. They seem to be starting to dry out slightly from the astringency in the tannins and will likely not get any better.
Tom


Edited by TomHill (09-05-2017 09:14:52)