Last night Teri and I joined about 30 other wine enthusiasts for our first experience with a Bay Area Wine Project tasting. The theme was American Syrah, and the tasting was held in the comfortable, if acoustically challenged, surroundings of the Firehouse building at Fort Mason Center in San Francisco. Our hosts for the evening with the incredibly enthusiast and gracious duo of Steve & Lisa Rigisich, who have created the BAWP for the purpose of bringing wine lovers together to enjoy and discuss world class wines in a non-judgmental, learning environment.
The well thought out lineup consisted of 14 wines presented in three flights, and represented well the broad spectrum of styles in American Syrah today. Steve began with a brief discussion of each wine, and followed each flight with a guided group discussion which is always fun and informative.
Wines were not decanted, but most were opened 2 ½ hours earlier and one glass poured off to introduce some air. All wines were tasted blind. Tasting notes are my own, scores are the groups total based on a weighted point system.
Fight #1: 1997 Dehliniger Goldridge Vineyard, 11 points Saturated opaque dark purple color, a hearty meaty nose with hints of cherries. Nice smooth palate and high acidity, smoky sweet fruit, and prominent American oak. Very nice wine, my #3 of the night.
2000 Garretson Fralich Ranch, 13 points Here is an odd one. Clear light red in color, sweet nose of strawberries (some at our table got a lot of game notes, I did not). On the palate it is thin, austere, hollow, finishing tart and short. I never would have pegged this as a Syrah, if I had to guess I would have said it was a poorly made Pinot.
1999 Cayuse Walla Walla Valley, 13 points Dark saturated purple color with a huge nose of meat and “funk”. Smooth rich palate, initially quite brooding, it opened up to reveal interesting spice and earthy notes. Very good. <font color= "#993366"> I guessed this to be the Koonsgaard, and was dead wrong.
1999 Alban Vineyards Reva, 20 points Dark purple in color with a big nose of game, meat, and spice. Good extracted fruit, sweet blackberries, well balanced, the only detraction was slightly drying tannins on the fairly short finish.
1997 Edmunds St. John Durrell Vineyard, 11 points Very dark cloudy purple, almost black, the nose was odd – what I would describe as young and almost spritzy (if a nose can be spritzy). Good sweet plum and berry notes with substantial backbone, but seems really young.
Flight #2: 1998 Kongsgaard Hudson Vineyard, 11 points Dark clear purple with tremendously long, thin, persistent legs. Great nose showing berries, anise, and an intriguing perfume note. On the palate this was surprisingly disappointing, given the nose, showing chunky, astringent tannins, rather bland and dull, with a short finish.
2000 Novy Santa Lucia Highlands, 33 points, #2 wine of the night! Dense red color with a great explosively sweet nose. Good acidity, with tons of ripe plum, black pepper, and American oak. Well integrated tannins, and a pleasant medium long finish. Very good stuff, my #2 of the flight and #4 overall.
1997 Ojai Roll Ranch, 4 points Clear dark red in color, very muted nose, not giving up much – about the only descriptor I can come up with is light leather notes. On the palate this is hollow, with no “there” there. Teri got Acetone and cough syrup. Off bottle? Don’t know, but notes seemed consistent across the room poured from two different bottles.
1999 Lewis Cellars, 64 points!! and the runaway WINE OF THE NIGHT! WOW, here is the stuff! Awesome nose, showing clearly of American oak and gobs of sweet fruit. Incredible wine, showing cinnamon and anise along with excellent extracted sweet fruit. Beautifully balanced, with smooth tannins and an terrific medium-long finish. My wine of the night, <font color=green>I guessed Lewis – and was right!
Flight #3: 1998 Qupe Bien Nacido, 6 points Light ruby in color, light nose showing sweet fruit and meat. Fairly high acidity, and sweet tannins from American oak. Ok, nothing special.
1997 Fife Old Yokoyo Rancho Vineyard, 3 points Ruby color with burnished edges suggesting some age. Gamey, vinegary nose, tart and astringent, not very good. Better with food.
2000 L’Ecole No. 41 Seven Hills, 10 points Dense opaque crimson color, nice nose showing chocolate and leather. Excellent wine, with smooth fine tannins, ripe, dark fruit, earthy notes, and a fine lingering finish. My #1 of the flight and #2 of the night.
1999 Arcadian Gary’s Vineyard, 23 points, #3 wine of the night! Excellent color – best of the night, a vibrant dark red. Stinky nose that reminds me of aged goat cheese (I LIKE stinky goat cheese!). Woodsy, earthy, forest underbrush, good acidity, very nice wine.
1997 Arrowood Saralee’s Vineyards 0 points Burnished red color suggesting age, odd nose shows stewed tomatoes(!) and anise. Not as bad on the palate as on the nose, but still not something I would enjoy. Poor. <font color=green>I guessed this as the Arrowood, and I got it right!
The biggest surprise for me was how far out in front the Lewis showed in this tasting. This was not a matter of Gold and Silver, the closest runner up was a distant Bronze metal, with Silver going wanting. As far as guessing which wine was which, this wasn’t our goal, nor did we focus on it, but it’s fun to try. I was proud that I pegged two if the three I attempted to identify, the others I didn’t have a clue.
All in all a fine, informative, and well organized tasting, I’m looking forward to the next one I am able to attend.
Posts: 4409 | Location: San Ramon, California | Registered: May 07, 2002
I didn't do the scoring, so hopefully steve will chime in here with the details. However, it was basically something like 5 points for first place, 4 points for 2nd, 3 points for third, etc., so you would be correct - 0 points would mean it got no votes from anyone.
Posts: 4409 | Location: San Ramon, California | Registered: May 07, 2002
No one writes up a tasting like you do, Eric. Great stuff! Felt like I was drinking right along with you.
I had the '97 Ojai Roll Ranch back in April and was not impressed either. It finished 4th out of five in a blind tasting of various syrahs. (The '99 Carlisle Syrah was the winner that night).
Aside from the Lewis, the Novy sounded particularly interesting. Like Carlisle, it seems like they are going for an Australian style (with the American oak). Did they succeed, in your opinion?
Sounds like it might be worth seeking out. I've enjoyed pinot noirs from Santa Lucia, but have yet to try a Syrah from there.
Cheers,
Otis
Posts: 3248 | Location: Chicago | Registered: Apr 03, 2002
Nice job Eric. Very detailed and professional. Was surprised by the Roll Ranch score since a dearly departed member of this forum always spoke so highly of it -- and still does elsewhere.
Cheers! And remember: Life's too short to drink bad wine.
Posts: 4425 | Location: New Orleans | Registered: Oct 25, 2001
Great notes, Eric. I'm a little surprised the Edmunds St. John didn't do a little better. That winery produces only good wine. I often order their wines in restaurants.
Just one more sip.
Posts: 24847 | Location: NY | Registered: Oct 18, 2001
This is the third American Syrah tasting we have done and, not surprisingly, the Lewis fared well again. The Lewis has been the WOTN twice and was the 3rd choice at the other tasting. The Kongsgaard again did fair but did not overwhelm anyone (although it was my favorite).
As you note, some of the wines did poorly simply because of the format, IMO. As board-O mentioned, although the ESJ only did fair, it is generally a fantastic wine. The Edmunds-St, John has underperformed at our events but it is a food wine that needs time. IMO, when paired with a Provence style herb-laden meal, American Syrah cannot show any better than a ESJ. I was surprised the Fife did so poorly simply because it shows very well in these formats. The Arcadian did very well and was probably the "find" of the evening. Being a young vineyard, I would guess that subsequent vintages will only get better. The Cayuse also drank very well but good luck trying to get on the mailing list.
1999 Lewis Cellars Napa Valley – A clean, crisp color that is bright red. Nose of vanilla, sweet fruits, dark berries, and more fruit. Silky texture with an almost buttery overtone. Huge fruit concentration gives way nicely to a long finish. My Rating – Very Good- and my 4th WOTN. Overall score – 62 Points.
2000 Novy Santa Lucia Highlands - Dark and big bodied with cherries and sweet fruits. A balanced wine that was a bit one-dimensional. My Rating – Good. Overall Score – 35 Points.
1999 Arcadian Gary’s Vineyard – My kind of syrah. The color is brilliant with a clean edge. Medium bodied with a wonderful structure and well integrated. Just enough funk to distinguish this as a syrah. I guessed that there was viogner blended. My rating – very good+ and my 2nd WOTN. Overall Score – 29 Points.
1999 Alban Vineyards Reva – Very dark color and a big, viscous body. Old-world nose of funk, meat, and dark fruits. Extremely well-balanced and well made. A medium finish (surprised by that). My rating – Very Good. Overall Score – 24 Points.
1999 Cayuse Walla Walla Valley – Deep red color. A concentrated nose with funk and spice. Great acid backbone with complex fruits and lots of spice. A well-structured wine, I would guess from a cold weather vineyard. My rating - Very good and my 3rd WOTN. Overall Score – 19 Points.
1998 Kongsgaard Hudson Vineyard – Dark, nearly black color with a clean edge. Huge body. Nose of earth, funk, spice, and subtle oak. Great structure with round tannins. Very N. Rhone and a extremely complex wine that needs some time. My rating – Very Good + and my 1st WOTN. Overall Score – 16 Points.
2000 Garretson Wine Co. Fralich Ranch – Light color with a strange nose of wood and metal shavings. A bitter fore-palate followed a metallic finish. My rating – poor. Overall Score – 13 Points.
1997 Dehliniger Goldridge Vineyard – A muddy color. Wood dominated a rather complex nose of spice, sweet fruits, and earth. The wine had a great fruit concentration but it lacked suitable acids and had a surprisingly medium finish. My rating-Good. Overall Score- 11 Points
1997 Edmunds-St. John Durrell Vineyard – A dark, muddy color definitely unfiltered, unfined. A hot nose and very oaky. Astringent taste with high acids and low fruit. Long finish, this needs time to evolve into something wonderful but for now, it’s average. My rating – Good. Overall Score – 11 Points.
2000 L’Ecole No. 41 Seven Hills – Deep red color. The wine has style and a great mouthfeel. A wine that has a rigid acidic backbone that frames great deep fruits, and long, ripe tannins. Well integrated and well-made. My Rating – Very good-. Overall score – 10 Points.
1997 Ojai Roll Ranch – Muddy, medium red color. Soft nose that really has nothing standout. One-dimensional. One of those wines that is hard to describe, but not bad. My rating – Good -. Overall Score – 9 Points.
1998 Qupe Bien Nacido - Medium red color with medium body. Nose of glycerin and wood. Tastes of unripe plums and very disjointed. My Rating – fair-. Overall Score – 6 Points.
1997 Fife Old Yokoyo Rancho Vineyard – A dark purple color with a clean edge. Nose is indistinct. Very flat wine that goes all over the place. Don’t get this one. My rating – Poor. Overall Score 3 Points.
1997 Arrowood Saralee’s Vineyard – The only clunker of the night. Muddy, brownish color with a sweet nose. Just a mess. My rating – Poor. Overall Score 0 Points.
To calculate the scores, we followed a very complex statistical model developed by California Institute of Tech to perform proper smoothing and adjust for deviations greater than 3 gammas.
Then we just assigned 5 points for a first place, 3 points for a second, and 1 point for a third.
Thank you for the compliment, high praise from two people who's notes I've always enjoyed reading as well.
Otis, As you can see from a subsequent post by Adam Lee, I was dead wrong in my assessment of American Oak (hey, it happens!). I loved the Novy, but no - I would not say they are shooting for a Aussie style.
Board-O,
I truly believe the Edmunds would have benefited greatly from two things, 1) a couple hours in a decanter (or several more years in the bottle), and 2) food.
Adam,
Thank you for setting the record straight, and congrats on what was a surprise frontrunner of the night.
Posts: 4409 | Location: San Ramon, California | Registered: May 07, 2002
Steve this was a great event. I defer to the notes already posted by you and Eric (both far superior at the pros than I).
For me, the Lewis was clearly far ahead of the bunch. My 2nd & 3rd were the Arcadian & the L'Ecole.
A few things stood out me:
1) The majority of the wines were throwing off a fair amount of sediment. Given their relative youth, I did not expect this.
2) Bottle/glass variation. There were a few wines that had a different nose from glass to glass. In one case, three glasses, all poured in a row from the same bottle, all had a different nose. I believe Steve said the corks were pulled 1-2 hours ahead of time but nothing was decanted. While I found this odd, it added some "spice" to the tasting. Most of the wines evolved while they were in the glass. A preferred method of tasting for me (instead of decanting too early).
3) People! With 26 people tasting the same wine, it was great to hear all of the different opinions. Quite fasinating to listen to what other's palates picked-up on. The spread out voting was a true indication that wine is a personal thing.
3) I expected several of these wines to show much better than they did. During the tasting, several of us commented that the wine would be better with food. Clearly, most of these wines would have shown better with food. This also says something about bottle variation. Case in point, the Arrowood. 94 points from Parker and Zero at this tasting. Hands down, the worst wine of the night.
Steve, a GREAT effort/event. I look forward to attending more of these (like next Wednesday).
... since you're out of the White Zin, I'll have a Boonsfarm on the rocks !
Posts: 404 | Location: Northern CA | Registered: Nov 01, 2001
I brought a bottle of '98 Cuvee Catherine Pinot to a dinner tonight (I posted notes under a new subject), and a friend brought, to my surprise, none other than the '99 Lewis Syrah. I confer with the notes Eric posted above; this wine is special. I had the wine paired with an Elk steak in sesame seed sauce at the New Yorker in Salt Lake City, so the Elk certainly had an effect on my impressions.
Very dark crimson/purple wine with significant coloration to the slow tears. Plum, anise, and brown sugar (from the steak preparation?) on the nose, with vibrant, deep, semi-sweet black fruit and well-integrated tannin on the palate. Fairly long finish (at least 20 seconds+) and a clear "wow" impression. In the company of the Kistler Pinot, it was the more obvious, extroverted wine. I would give it at least a 94, maybe a 95. Extremely enjoyable. My first experience with this wine, and I hope their will be more. lol
De gustibus non est disputandum.
Posts: 1578 | Location: Denver, CO | Registered: Jan 02, 2003
I'd go ahead and buy the 2000 Lewis Syrah. I just bought 2 bottles myself. But then again, you knew that!. Nice to see you again. I will certainly tell my brother that you said hello.
By the way, my husband saw this in a store near Cleveland for $60.00.
Posts: 148 | Location: Pittsburgh | Registered: Nov 13, 2002
