McClean Vineyards Estate Private Reserve Syrah Vertical - 2 Pack
$49.99 + $5 shipping
CONDITION: Red
PRODUCTS:
1 2003 McClean Vineyards Paso Robles Syrah, Estate Private Reserve
1 2005 McClean Vineyards Paso Robles Syrah, Estate Private Reserve
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Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm aged Syrah!

Anyone know specifically if these are over the top good? I'm going to spend vacation money on this if so - I've got a weakness for Syrahs.

This blog is wayyyy boring... Fire Alarm blog is hot hot hot...

looks like someone had a little fun with the bottle on the left! uh huh i'm talking to you, woot photographer man

Can anyone elaborate on the technique of floating your cork in the glass. Does this enhance the flavor? Does it help the wine to breathe with better air flow below the surface through the porous composition of the cork?

Read the fine print: " To help these returning veterans he has decided to donate 10% of all proceeds from wine purchases to help the rehabilitation of our returning soldiers through the Armed Forces Foundation. Therefore, when you purchase McClean Vineyards' wines, not only will you be doing your customers a great favor but also you are helping our returning heroes."

Great selling point for me. Might have to go in just for that. Cheers to our armed forces!

JoshuaInMN wrote:Anyone know specifically if these are over the top good? I'm going to spend vacation money on this if so - I've got a weakness for Syrahs.

First time for me on these boards. Looking forward to interacting with you all... I'll also be man'ing the battle stations on twitter (@mccleanwine) should anyone be on a mobile device or find that easier for a conversation.

I'm a bit biased since I work with Michael, but I'm definitely a fan of these bottles. bsevern is on point with that comment. I'm a fan of aged anything when it comes to my reds, but aged CA Syrah is really up there for me. Also, don't underestimate how good wine can make a vacation. I've exhausted vacation funds more than a few times on good wine... always seems to work out just fine...

Malink wrote:Read the fine print: " To help these returning veterans he has decided to donate 10% of all proceeds from wine purchases to help the rehabilitation of our returning soldiers through the Armed Forces Foundation. Therefore, when you purchase McClean Vineyards' wines, not only will you be doing your customers a great favor but also you are helping our returning heroes."

Great selling point for me. Might have to go in just for that. Cheers to our armed forces!

Thanks for bringing this up. When I started working for Mike and Judy, this is one of the things that really got my excited about getting the word out on their wines.

I can't comment on the 2005 or 2006, but I recently had the 2004 McClean Syrah (Paso Robles) with the 2006 Bonaccorsi Star Lane (Santa Barbara) and the 2006 Qupe Bien Nacido Hillside Syrah (Santa Barbara). In short, the McClean was a nice, medium-bodied wine with a decent nose, dark fruit and a clean, but not very long, finish. The bottle ageing definitely gave this wine a nice balance of acidity, fruit and tannins. Tough call to make. Depends on you look for in a Syrah. Good price point but not for those who prefer a more full-bodied, complex Syrah with a long finish. Hope this helps.

I had this wine over the summer, and admittedly, purchased it for the support of the military. My brother is in the Navy and I have friends who were either in or worked for supporting organizations (including myself) so I didn't originally buy with much research.

I picked up about 4 bottles of the '05 and brought them out for July 4th with both some wine nerds and non-wine friendly friends. Just about everyone enjoyed the wine immensely. For most, it was their first syrah. Even now living in Washington state, which is big into syrah, and sending back some WA syrah to the east coast, I find my friends comparing this one very favorably. We actually had it with homemade italian sausages grilled over a fire, so what I perceived to be smokiness with nicely balanced tannins matched well. I did wish there were a bit more spice on it but that may come with a little longer decant. We only maybe stretched it to about 20 minutes so it may have opened up a bit more if allowed.

I still have a bottle in my cellar somewhere and hope to get to it soon. But, I will pick this one up so I can see how the '03 is holding up as well as see what 6 months has done to the '05.

If I drank Syrah more often or had any opportunity to give wine as a gift coming the 10% to veterans would make me buy in an instant so good on the winery for that. That and I do still have some un-drunk Syrah around the house.


Woot, please clarify the meaning of black tie. It used to mean an over the norm retail value, often with an above the norm discount. This isn't the first offering recently that hasn't followed that so it should be clearly defined or rather re-defined.

Kao1138 wrote:If I drank Syrah more often or had any opportunity to give wine as a gift coming the 10% to veterans would make me buy in an instant so good on the winery for that. That and I do still have some un-drunk Syrah around the house.


Woot, please clarify the meaning of black tie. It used to mean an over the norm retail value, often with an above the norm discount. This isn't the first offering recently that hasn't followed that so it should be clearly defined or rather re-defined.

I believe it means, this is more expensive/classier than the average woot! wine, and to please keep the "omgz why is it so expensivez" comments to yourself, as to not ruin the elite wine purchasing atmosphere.

I would highly recommend not drinking the cork.

So when did wine.woot become the black sheep of the family - I noticed there's no longer a link to wine.woot on the kids.woot site.

Kao1138 wrote:
Woot, please clarify the meaning of black tie. It used to mean an over the norm retail value, often with an above the norm discount. This isn't the first offering recently that hasn't followed that so it should be clearly defined or rather re-defined.

It has many meanings, therefore difficult to clarify. Here is an excerpt from a previous woot that I did:

"While it generally is a higher priced wine, WD has described the black-tie buys as being more in the line of harder to find (especially at a discount) wines that just aren't offered regularly, or special deals."

Price point and/or discount is not what makes an item a Black-tie Buy. It is more of the rarity/availability of the item or the rarity of actually getting that item at a discount. I would also guess that a big part of what makes this one a Black-Tie Buy is the age of the wine, the price and the vertical.

McCleanBrent, Can you give us any info on the making of this wine? I don't see much along the lines of the barrel time/type (if any), picking time, bottling date, etc. How many cases of each were produced?

What is your estimate of further cellaring time on these wines? Some of the other comments lead me to believe that that window may be shortening, but I am always curious to see how winemakers/wineries feel their wines will hold up/change over time, especially considering that their palate usually leads them to a preference of younger wines.

iccrew98 wrote:I had this wine over the summer, and admittedly, purchased it for the support of the military. My brother is in the Navy and I have friends who were either in or worked for supporting organizations (including myself) so I didn't originally buy with much research.

I picked up about 4 bottles of the '05 and brought them out for July 4th with both some wine nerds and non-wine friendly friends. Just about everyone enjoyed the wine immensely. For most, it was their first syrah. Even now living in Washington state, which is big into syrah, and sending back some WA syrah to the east coast, I find my friends comparing this one very favorably. We actually had it with homemade italian sausages grilled over a fire, so what I perceived to be smokiness with nicely balanced tannins matched well. I did wish there were a bit more spice on it but that may come with a little longer decant. We only maybe stretched it to about 20 minutes so it may have opened up a bit more if allowed.

I still have a bottle in my cellar somewhere and hope to get to it soon. But, I will pick this one up so I can see how the '03 is holding up as well as see what 6 months has done to the '05.

Also, purchased it for the support of the military. My father was Army and served in the Korean War. Thanks for the good comments though - sounds like it will be worth it.

lobstrain wrote:I would highly recommend not drinking the cork.

Indeed... it was not our intent to advertise cork as the ideal pairing item for this wine :-)

North316 wrote:McCleanBrent, Can you give us any info on the making of this wine? I don't see much along the lines of the barrel time/type (if any), picking time, bottling date, etc. How many cases of each were produced?

What is your estimate of further cellaring time on these wines? Some of the other comments lead me to believe that that window may be shortening, but I am always curious to see how winemakers/wineries feel their wines will hold up/change over time, especially considering that their palate usually leads them to a preference of younger wines.

Here is some technical information I was able to ascertain from Mike... he's pretty adamant about not "over-oak'ing" his wines, so he uses a combination of new and used French/American oak. 30-30-30 was the way he described his process, in reference to alternating the wines between new and used barrels. As far as picking grapes off the vine, he said his rule of thumb is to never pick before sugar levels on the vine reach 26 brix, roughly (weather permitting, of course). The '03 was bottled in September of 2005 with a 500 case production, and the '05 was bottled in October of 2007 with a case production of approximately 1,800.

As far as "cellarability" on these wines, every individual is going to have a slightly different opinion. Personally, I think both wines are more than drinkable now, with the '03 definitely ready now. The '05 could stand a bit more time in a cellar, but not too, too long. These wines have certainly benefitted from extended bottle age and have developed what I think are nice tannin structures, but I don't expect them to age in the same ways Grand Cru Burgundies do. From what I've tasted recently, the wines definitely develop complexity of flavor and texture over the time they've been in bottle, but I don't personally expect this to be the case with 20+ year cellaring. Just my two cents, though...

The bottle on the left looks like it might be a refurb.

neilfindswine wrote:...when I discovered McClean Vineyards, I was a good 200 miles south of Paso Robles; I was actually in a little LA area eatery called Wood and Vine where the 05 is offered by the bottle (though for nowhere near this Woot price!). Their normal by-the-glass syrah was out, and I convinced them to open the McClean and pour it by the glass. Despite being a fresh pour out of the bottle I immediately realized I was in the presence of some quality Paso juice. Balanced, good fruit with spicy notes, if my memory recalls. A buddy of mine joined me and as it turns out, I switched from by-the-glass pricing to by-the-bottle pricing.

Last night I opened and decanted (for about an hour), the 2003.

Deep, vivid color, in spite of its years in the bottle. After a couple of swirls, glass to nose: aromas of raspberries and dried cherries, but an overwhelming note of black olives. Lots of dark fruit and a hint of sour cherries on the palate, with layers of spice, pepper, chocolate and licorice that resonated on an ample finish. Good weight/mouthfeel and nice acidity (again, in spite of its years), balanced with still-ample fruit and smooth tannins. As the last glasses were poured, we noted that the pepper and spices were softening to more of a sweet baking spice note.

Overall, a special, complex wine. Black Tie. Well done Mr. McClean.

Wow, awesome tasting note... I must say, I'm pleased that the '03 "opened" as it did from an hour decanting. The last time I opened one I decided not to decant because of the age. Glad to hear about your experience for the next one I open.

lobstrain wrote:I would highly recommend not drinking the cork.

although that might be preferable to drinking the MaCleans toothpaste (for bad spellers..)

neilfindswine wrote:...when I discovered McClean Vineyards, I was a good 200 miles south of Paso Robles; I was actually in a little LA area eatery called Wood and Vine where the 05 is offered by the bottle (though for nowhere near this Woot price!). Their normal by-the-glass syrah was out, and I convinced them to open the McClean and pour it by the glass. Despite being a fresh pour out of the bottle I immediately realized I was in the presence of some quality Paso juice. Balanced, good fruit with spicy notes, if my memory recalls. A buddy of mine joined me and as it turns out, I switched from by-the-glass pricing to by-the-bottle pricing.

Last night I opened and decanted (for about an hour), the 2003.

Deep, vivid color, in spite of its years in the bottle. After a couple of swirls, glass to nose: aromas of raspberries and dried cherries, but an overwhelming note of black olives. Lots of dark fruit and a hint of sour cherries on the palate, with layers of spice, pepper, chocolate and licorice that resonated on an ample finish. Good weight/mouthfeel and nice acidity (again, in spite of its years), balanced with still-ample fruit and smooth tannins. As the last glasses were poured, we noted that the pepper and spices were softening to more of a sweet baking spice note.

Overall, a special, complex wine. Black Tie. Well done Mr. McClean.

Neat! How does it compare to that Calcareous Syrah from Paso, if you've had it? From the spice notes and Brix levels, I'm guessing it's a concentrated ripe one, but Syrah can handle a lot of different treatments.. The Calcareous was ripe, and their wines tend to heat, but their Syrah really worked because it did have fruit and exceptional minerality! (And is great at breakfast, but that's another story)

It's not Cab, but all the positive comments I'm in for one

All this talk about Syrah at breakfast has been pretty eye opening... after today, red wine may replace Bohemia and Anchor Steam as the preferred morning beverages in my house.

mccleanbrent wrote:All this talk about Syrah at breakfast has been pretty eye opening... after today, red wine may replace Bohemia and Anchor Steam as the preferred morning beverages in my house.

Any assistance on breakfast pairings would be much appreciated! ;)

mccleanbrent wrote:First time for me on these boards. Looking forward to interacting with you all... I'll also be man'ing the battle stations on twitter (@mccleanwine) should anyone be on a mobile device or find that easier for a conversation.

I'm a bit biased since I work with Michael, but I'm definitely a fan of these bottles. bsevern is on point with that comment. I'm a fan of aged anything when it comes to my reds, but aged CA Syrah is really up there for me. Also, don't underestimate how good wine can make a vacation. I've exhausted vacation funds more than a few times on good wine... always seems to work out just fine...

Just ordered - always excited for something unique to fill the wine rack with.

JoshuaInMN wrote:Just ordered - always excited for something unique to fill the wine rack with.

Thanks so much for the support! I hope the wines are welcomed additions to your collection... now all you have to do is browse the comments on here for breakfast food-pairing suggestions.

Chorizo, anyone?

neilfindswine wrote:... a decent pairing with steak & eggs.... Lucky Charms, not so much....

I'd also go with mushrooms, fried bread and Cumberland sausages. Baked beans a maybe. Though it'll go especially well with black pudding.

Oh, and this was the breakfast Syrah tasting (part two linked.. all parts in thread) 8)

bsevern wrote:Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm aged Syrah!

If you mage Syrah does it explode?