This is an excellent Syrah, and it’s right up there with the winery’s Clone 877 bottling. It’s nearly identical, with rich, sweet tannins, crisp acids and complex, intricate flavors of blackberries, plums, coffee, white pepper, sweet leather and smoky oak. The finish is dry and satisfying.
— S.H.
(4/1/2006)
Opens with a blast of white pepper, blackberries and cigar box, and quickly turns rich, dense and fruity in the mouth. Backed up by substantial but fine tannins, this Syrah is dry, with blackberry, plum, coffee and spice flavors. It’s as good as Syrahs costing two and even three times as much.
— S.H.
(4/1/2006)
Shares many of the qualities of the wonderful Clone 877 bottling, except for acidity. This wine is too soft to be fully balanced. Still, the flavors, of blackberries, plums, coffee, sweet leather and spices, are complex and ever-changing, and the finish is rich and dry.
— S.H.
(4/1/2006)
The alcohol is high, yet it doesn’t feel hot in the mouth. Dry, crisp and elegant, the wine has citrus flavors with subtle hints of peaches and honey.
— S.H.
(8/1/2006)
Like all Edna Valley Chards, this bottling is bone dry, with high acidity. The flavors are very citrusy, with richer notes of honeydew melon and sweet, oaky vanilla. This is a polished, elegant wine.
— S.H.
(7/1/2006)
Compared to the winery’s county-wide bottling, this Pinot is remarkably similar in the high acidity, light, silky texture and pleasant cherry, cola and subtle oak flavors. Yet it possesses an extra depth and complexity. Drink this polished wine now.
— S.H.
(7/1/2006)
Grown in this cool appellation, this Spanish variety is crisp in acidity and bone dry, a refreshing sipper that shows flavors of citrus zest not unlike a Sauvignon Blanc, but fuller-bodied.
— S.H.
(7/1/2006)
Shows the qualities that are making this Spanish variety so popular. Bone dry, crisp in acidity, low in alcohol and palate-stimulating, this oak-free wine bursts with rich lemongrass, pineapple and peach flavors. That acidity makes it clean and vibrant and terrifically versatile at the table.
— S.H.
(12/15/2007)