by Tom Hill

A self-admitted wine geek, Tom lives in Northern New Mexico and works as a computational physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory doing numerical neutron transport & large scale code development. He has been tasting wines since 1971, participates locally with a couple of large tasting groups in his area, and is practically a fixture at most California wine festivals, such as the Hospice du Rhône, Rhône Rangers, and ZAP. Other interests: Tom is heavily into competitive sport fencing (foil & epee), biking, cooking, basketball, skiing, backpacking, mountain climbing.

We tasted last night (2/15/06) New Calif Syrahs:

1. BlairFox Viognier ParadiseRdVnyd/SBCnty (14.9%; www.BlairFoxCellars.com) 2002: Rather gold color; very strong butterscotchy/oak slight Viognier/peach/aromatic/ripe bit volatile/aromatic nose; soft/fat/porky very toasty/butterscotchy/oak light peach/Viognier some bitter flavor; very/ very short fruity/peach strong toasty/butterscotchy/oak finish; may be some fruit in there but slammed by the oak; bit too soft/fat. $27.00
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2. PointConcepcion CuveeJalama Syrah CentralCoast (14.1%; www.PointConceptionWines.com)
2002: Med.color; rather musty/corked slight blackberry/Syrah nose; some musty/corked light bright cherry/blackberry/Syrah flavor; the TCA has robbed too much of this wine to tell much; sorry Peter. $25.00
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3. DainWines Syrah Sojourn LasMadres/Carneros (15.5%; www.DainWines.com) 2004: Very dark/
black color; beautiful spicy/smokey/roasted/peppery some toasty/oak strong Syrah/black berry nose; soft/fat rather charred/toasty/oak bit roasted/coffee strong blackberry/Syrah attractive flavor; long charred/roasted/espresso strong blackberry/Syrah finish w/ light tannins; terrific Rhonish nose; soft/easy-drinking & overpriced at $44.50
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4. Strange SantaYnezVlly Syrah (14.2%) BallentineVnyds for BayardFoxWines 2002: Dark color;
attractive blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah slight herbal/dusty nose; very soft/fat/porky some
blackberry/Syrah bit herbal flavor; short fat/porky blackberry/ripe/Syrah finish w/some tannic bite; interesting but underwhelming. $25.00
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5. tensley Syrah ColsonCnynVnyd/SBCnty (15.4%) 2004: Black color; beautiful intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah green olive strong toasty/oak rather gamey/meaty complex very
fragrant/aromatic nose; tart very rich/lush peppery/blackberry/Syrah some toasty/oak bit
roasted/espresso/cracked pepper flavor; very long/lingering huge/blackberry/Syrah rather
mocha/green olive/peppery/spicy/roasted complex finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs;
huge Syrah fruit w/ lots of things going on; terrific Syrah. $37.00 (LA)
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6. tensley Syrah ThompsonVnyd/SBCnty (14.5%) 2004: Very dark/black color; huge/deep blackberry/ boysenberry/Syrah loads of fruit peppery more smokey/dusty slight spicy nose;slightly softer/ fatter huge/extracted blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah some peppery/dusty flavor; very long huge/blackberry/Syrah/framboise finish w/ more tannins; not the complexity of Colson but more structure/tannins and maybe a better wine down the road; killer Syrah at a great price. $32.00
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7. Samsara Verna'sVnyd Syrah (8% Viognier Co-frmtd; 15.2%; 60 cs; www.SamsaraWine.com; U/U) 2004: Black color; intense blackberry/boysenberry/peppery/Syrah toasty/smokey/peppery/
roasted spicy beautiful/aromatic nose; tart/rich intense/blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah peppery/ DrPepper/RoyalCrownCola huge/extracted smokey/peppery/roasted flavor; very long/lingering huge/blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah peppery/roasted/toasty rather tannic/extracted finish; needs 4-8 yrs; terrific extracted Syrah at a great price. $33.00
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8. Samsara AmpelosVnyd/SantaRitaHills Syrah (15.6%; 70 cs; U/U; www.SamsaraWine.com) 2004:Black color; very intense peppery/cold-climate/cracked pepper/slight green olive intense
blackberry/Syrah bit more subtle nose; rather hard/tannic intense blackberry/Syrah extracted
cracked black pepper/slight olive spicy complex flavor; very long intense/extracted blackberry/ Syrah cracked pepper/spicy finish w/ hard tannins; needs much age; more cold-climate character but fierce tannins. Great buy at $31.00
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9. BlairFox Syrah ParadiseRdVnyd/SBCnty (15.0%) 2002: Black color; strong blackberry/blueberry/
Syrah rather alcoholic/fumey/volatile quite toasty/oak nose; rather hot/alcoholic/fumey intense blackberry/Syrah very toasty/oak quite hard/tannic flavor; long hard/tannic strong blackberry/ Syrah very extracted hot finish w/ fierce tannins; needs much age but a bit too hot/fumey for my taste. $34.00
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10. Peay Syrah SonomaCoast (14.1%; www.PeayVineyards.com) 2003: Very dark/black color; complex/beautiful peppery/roasted/charred/smokey dusty intense blackberry/Syrah some herbal/olive/cold climate nose; huge/rich very spicy/peppery/cold-climate/slight olive/herbal intense blackberrt/blueberry/Syrah slight walnutty/dusty very tart complex flavor; very long/
lingering spicy/cracked pepper/olive intense blackberry/Syrah rather hard/tannic finish; needs much age; huge Syrah fruit but very structured for the long haul. Killer Syrah.$45.00
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11. Neyers Cuvee d'Honneur NapaVlly Syrah (14.4%; www.NeyersVineyards.com) 2003: Very dark
color; beautiful/stunning roasted/smokey/espresso/mocha very NorthernRhone strong peppery/
blackbery/Syrah very NR/complex nose; rather hard/tannic very intense smokey/roasted/NR/
espresso/meaty some blackberry/Syrah complex flavor; very long hard/tannic intense NR/
roasted/espresso/meaty some blackberry/Syrah very complex finish; stunning NR-like wine;
much more French than Calif. Fairly priced at $44.00
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12. Copain Syrah HawksButte/YorkvilleHighlands/MendocinoCnty (14.1%; www.CopainWines.com)
2003: Black color; strong black pepper/cold-climate/blackberry/Syrah smokey/roasted/espresso quite Rhonish complex nose; tart very rich/lush toasty/smokey/roasted/espresso very Rhonish some blackberry/Syrah/peppery some tannic complex/structured flavor; very long/lingering roasted/smokey/charred/meaty some blackberry/Syrah finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; stunning Syrah w/ lots of Rhone character. $40.00
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13. Pax SonomaHillsides SonomaCnty RW (52% Syrah, 47% grenache, 1% Roussanne; U/U; 432 cs; www.PaxWines.com; 15.4%) 2004: Very dark/black color; very strong strawberry/Grenache/
raspberry spicy some Syrah/blackberry loads of bright/spicy fruit bit toasty/oak nose;tart very strong strawberry/Grenache some blackberry/blueberry/Syrah loads of fruit some roasted/toasty/ charred/oak some NR flavor; very long intense strawberry/Alpinestrawberry/Grenache some toasty/ charred/roasted/oak finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; a terrific Rhone blend. $35.00

1. Tensley: How good can this guy get?? These two Syrahs seem the best I've yet had from Joey.
I preferred the ColsonCnyn for its more distinctive character and the Thompson seemed to
be mostly huge fruit than anything, but nothing I'd throw outta bed. Stunning wines.
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2. AmpelosVnyd: This is a relatively new vnyd, owned by Peter & Becky Work, that is just
coming on-line. They are making wine under their Ampelos label (named after their resort
property in Greece; www.WineAtWork.com; www.AmpelosResort.com) and also selling some of
their grapes. Mostly PinotNoir, some Syrah, tiny Grenache, tinier Viognier are planted.
The Juffurs Ampelos '04 (not yet released) is an incredible Syrah, maybe Craig's best yet,
if'n you can believe that. Meticulously farmed w/ Jeff Newton (the best around) their
consultant. Their winemaker is Becky's son, Don Schroeder, now asst at SeaSmoke. Their
cellars are over in the Lompoc Wine Ghetto. Definitely a name you'll be hearing a whole
lot more about.
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3. Samsara: My first wines from Chad Melville's own effort. Mightly/mightly impressive.
The Verna'sVnyd is, of course, from the Melville (mostly Syrah) vnyd up toward LosAlamos,
near Thompson vnyd. I slightly preferred the Verna's and found the Ampelos to be very
extracted and hard. May be a better Syrah down the road, however.
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4. Calif Syrah: Thus was a very impressive lineup of Calif Syrahs. The quality of the Syrahs
just seems to keep getting better and better. Who'd of thunk 24 yrs ago when the first
great Calif Syrahs appeared that we'd be here. Even though some of the Syrahs are fright-
fully expensive vis a vis 10 yrs ago, they are still bargins compared to those Napa Cabs.
You can buy great/world-class wines at $20-$40/btl that are every bit as good as those $200
Napa Cabs. Maybe would should just keep this amongst ourselves??
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5. PeayVnyds: A relatively new vnyd waaaay out on the SonomaCoast of Nick & Andy Peay w/
VanessaWong the winemaker. I first tried them last year at RhoneRangers and was pretty
impressed. I had SteveEdmunds PeayVnyd Syrah and liked it quite a lot. This '03 Syrah....
blew me away. Terrific example of cold-climate Syrah. It may rank up there w/ Syrahs
from Bassetti and AlRago's QueSyrah vnyds. It may be one of Calif's truly great Syrah
vnyds. Just need to have more data points. Keep your eye on this vnyd. Their WebSite
(.PeayVineyards.com----no www.) is a great read and loaded w/ info. And...surprise/
surprise...you can even order wine from it!!
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6. YorkVilleHighlands: This is up in MendocinoCnty just has you head up out of NorthernSonoma
and towards the AndersonVlly. I've been curious about this area as I thought it seemed
to be potentially a very good growing area. I've tried a few Cabs/Merlots from there but...
jeez...they're just Cabs...no potential for greatness there... they were unthrilling.
This Copain is the first truly great wine from YH that I've had. Don't know if it's due
to the grape growing or Well's talented winemaking, but this Syrah is terrific wine
w/ a lot of Rhone character. Not great, yet, but mightly impressive.
TomHill