Lagier Meredith Syrah Mount Veeder Napa Valley, Ca. 2007

With all the sad news out of Sonoma and Napa from the fires (38 dead, 300 missing, 5,800 homes destroyed, 400,000 commercial space lost), I wanted to do something to connect with the people and the places I hold in high esteem. While many fit that distinction, I pulled this wine because Steve and Carole welcomed me into their home and told me the story of their vineyard and the ancient olive trees that stand near the porch where they poured their wines for me. Following Carole’s posts about the fires and the scorching near their house made this wine so much more personal to me. Black olive wafts up, followed by plum, blackberry, caramel and black pepper. What a well-made wine with both power and finesse. Not quite velvety, but very near. Some sediment. 14.4% alc. With London broil (beef). 10.16.17. Recommended, but hoping for “Highly Recommended” one day.


Tensley Thompson Vineyard Syrah Santa Barbara County 2005

I simply couldn’t keep my hands off this any longer. At twelve years old, this is the first one of these wines I’ve opened. Even then, it was so young that I decanted it. The color of ox blood at the rim that quickly becomes an opaque red looking toward the core. The nose is ginormous. The bouquet exploded behind the cork as it cleared the bottle’s mouth with blackberry, eucalyptus, smoke, smoked meats and brown sugar. Every aspect of the bouquet comes across the palate in spades with distinct intensity. The fruit on the palate is sweet, like a good Zinfandel ... only better. The eucalyptus becomes licorice that segues into black pepper and trails off to roses. The mouthfeel is big and incredibly intense. The wine shows amazing depth. The tannins are not yet integrated. So much sediment! Sediment coats the neck and shoulder of the bottle while grains coat the bottom of the decanter. 14.7% alc. With pasta under chorizo, mushrooms, and cannellini. 11.02.17. Highly Recommended.


Stolpman Estate Syrah Santa Ynez Valley Ca. 2005

The core remains an opaque blackberry jam at the core. Sweet cassis and blackberry jam, cedar and smoke carry the bouquet and segue into the attack. The wine is chock full of dark fruits, spice of cinnamon, black olives, tobo, smoked meat and saddle leather. On the finish there seems to be a touch of eucalyptus and coffee. This is a delicious wine. The meal almost finished and the glass full, I’m looking forward to kicking back and concentrating on the sublimity of the wine. A reach for one more brined black olive that pairs so well with the wine. The reach collides with my wife’s hand which has the same thought. I immediately retract my hand apologizing for colliding with hers. My hand hits the top of the glass. The glass topples; the wine splashes across the floor to the sound of shattering glass. The Rediel is toast, the wine spreads across the stone; my eyes tear as I hear my throat open to a sustained, “Noooooo!” It was such a rich, balanced and contemplative wine. Gone! 14.9% alc. With cheeses of stilton blue, Italian truffled and an Alpine with brined, black olives and crusty bread 11.11.17. Highly Recommended.
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BEB

"I've wrestled with reality for 35 years and I'm happy to state I finally won out over it." Elwood P. Dowd