norvegicus wrote:Syrah L'abrat checking in!

Expected review posting time approximately 8pm EDT, maybe a little earlier. I have to go to a meeting from 6 to about 7...

OK OK OK I’m an WAFFLES! TASTY WAFFLES!, I pulled the wrong vintage and gave David the 2006 Syrah Flora Ranch – very sorry! I guess you get to be one of the few people who get to taste this will before release. I wish I could tell you it’s really one of the perks of being a “labrat” and David made me do it, but no the winemaker screwed up - I’m very sorry. As far as the wine the 06 and the 05 both have the same “site signature”.
Cheers
Jeff Gaffner
Saxon Brown Wines

andyduncan wrote:You're flipping us off in that picture! Fine! Rub it in!

HA HA HA!

Totally unintentional I assure you, but it's hilarious so I'll leave it!

jgaffner wrote:OK OK OK I’m an WAFFLES! TASTY WAFFLES!, I pulled the wrong vintage and gave David the 2006 Syrah Flora Ranch – very sorry! I guess you get to be one of the few people who get to taste this will before release. I wish I could tell you it’s really one of the perks of being a “labrat” and David made me do it, but no the winemaker screwed up - I’m very sorry. As far as the wine the 06 and the 05 both have the same “site signature”.
Cheers
Jeff Gaffner
Saxon Brown Wines

Hmmm.... is this just a cover-up so we don't think we're getting the '06 in Thursday's offering...

Looking forward to those reports!

This is very expensive for me but it sounds so good. I want reports people. Reports!

OK I couldn't wait until dinner. Popped the cork and decided to decant it for a bit before dinner. My wife and I each had a little taste. Both of us are wine review neophytes.

There were some crystals on the cork, so I wiped out the bottle neck carefully.

COLOR
This wine is a VERY dark, almost opaque, purplish, burgundy ,PLUM color. It looks like a much older wine, not like I'd expect a 2006 to look.

FRAGRANCE
Me: this is a savory wine, not fruity, I smell tobacco, leather, EARTH, and a hint of cherry pits, tiny bit of alcohol heat but you have to think about it to notice it

wife: PLUM, earthy

consensus: dark, pitted fruits

FLAVOR

STRONG early hit on the tip of the tongue with some heat quickly progressing to the sides with acidity. Tannins hit hard and early. Kind of a short finish, or maybe it's just a subtle finish that is really smooth. The tannin dry feeling on my tongue doesn't last uncomfortably long at all.

It tastes like it smells, very earthy, not very fruity except for DARK, PITTED fruit.

NONE of this is harsh at all. Overall impression is SMOOOOOOOTH and ELEGANT and COMPLEX. The only time I notice any alcohol heat is right at the beginning and then it's gone.

This is a VERY complex wine, especially for a youngish varietal. I'm impressed. For a wine this young to be this complex and smoooooth right out of the bottle is rare.

This is delicious wine. I'm very much looking forward to having it with dinner: grilled filet mignon and some fresh home made pesto pasta.

I just decanted it. More later.

norvegicus wrote:OK I couldn't wait until dinner. Popped the cork and decided to decant it for a bit before dinner. My wife and I each had a little taste. Both of us are wine review neophytes...

Noted and packed and that sounds awesome...

barrymccochener wrote:Like when you drink too much and pass out??

I'm still hoping for some delicious Oregon Pinot for Thursday!!

Hey! I haven't had that happen for at least a month, thank you very much. And in this community such accusations are very serious!

Pepper! There's pepper in there! Maybe "white" pepper? I don't know, but I like it. Time to grill the steaks...early dinner because of my stupid meeting...

Ok, you guys talked me into it, but just one! My wine fridge is already full.
AND I still have a Poizin in there. hehehe

paryb wrote:Never saw an answer yesterday, maybe got lost in the shuffle, but I was wondering about the specifics on the wines.

2001 Zinfandel – Casa Santinamaira vineyard:
Planted before the turn of the previous century on one of the most magnificent sites in all of Sonoma Valley, Casa Santinamaria is one of only a few ‘field blended' vineyards remaining in California. Due to the age of the vines and the fact that they have been dry farmed, the yields are low, the clusters are very small and the fruit is very concentrated. In 2001 we were able to harvest only 0.5 tons/acre. This wine, a classic field blend of Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Carignane, Alicante Bouschet and Mataro, represents the often unrealized elegance and complexity that we feel great zinfandel is capable of.
Winemaking:
In 2001 the brix at harvest was approximately 26 when the fruit was right to pick. The fruit was picked with optimum care, in small bins and in the cool of the day. The grapes were de-stemmed into an open-top fermenter (95% whole berry), “cold-soaked” for 24 hours, and inoculated with a low rate of yeast - this allows the “wild yeast” to have an effect before the cultured yeast takes over. After fermentation began, we punched-down 3 to 4 times daily. The “must” was pressed at approximately zero brix and allowed to finish fermentation in tank. After fermentation was completed, the wine was racked to new and one year old French barrels. The wine was aged for 22 months.
Tasting Notes:
The 2001 Casa Santinamaria Zinfandel has an intense raspberry and dried cranberry signature that seems to run from year to year along with black cherry/berry, dark chocolate and sweet elegant oak tones. On the mouth this wine has great structure with abundant dried raspberry flavors.
Case Production : 310 cases
15.0 % Alc
TA 0.620
pH 3.2


Cheers
Jeff Gaffner
Saxon Brown Wines

jgaffner wrote:Tasting Notes:
The 2001 Casa Santinamaria Zinfandel has an intense raspberry and dried cranberry signature that seems to run from year to year along with black cherry/berry, dark chocolate and sweet elegant oak tones. On the mouth this wine has great structure with abundant dried raspberry flavors.

... one. That's all you get from me. One, you hear? Curse you all and your peer pressure!

Saxon Brown - Two Pack
Current numbers (updated each minute):

First sucker: mill
Speed to first woot: 0m 5.703s

Last wooter to woot: cheron98

paryb wrote:Never saw an answer yesterday, maybe got lost in the shuffle, but I was wondering about the specifics on the wines.

Flora Ranch is tucked in a bowl shaped, southeast facing valley, that is shielded by the surrounding hills from much of the early morning and late afternoon sun. As a result of its abbreviated sun exposure, Flora Ranch has a cooler and longer growing season than is usual for the Chalk Hill area. The extra hang time results in grapes that ripen slowly and fully with flavors, sugars and acids maturing in unison. The chalky soils, as well as the unique mix of clones and rootstocks, gives us a complex and elegant Syrah.

Winemaking: Again I emphasize gentle handling and slow fermentations. We harvested our Flora Ranch Syrah, like all my wines, based on flavor and fruit condition, in the cool early morning hours. The must was cold soaked, yeasted with a low rate of yeast – for slow fermentation – and pressed at dryness . The wine was barreled down cloudy in new and one-year-old French oak barrels and aged for 11 months.

Tasting Notes: I really love how this wine evolves and changes as it breaths. First I get dark fruit with floral/lavender tones. After a time the wine goes to a mocha dust, dark chocolate and roasted coffee beans. And after an hour or so it becomes even more amazing - with everything I want in a Syrah. Enjoy the trip, I did.

Case Production: Only 272 cases
14.7 % Alc
0.59 TA
3.6 pH

Cheers
Jeff Gaffner
Saxon Brown Wines

jgaffner wrote:2001 Zinfandel – Casa Santinamaira vineyard:
Planted before the turn of the previous century on one of the most magnificent sites in all of Sonoma Valley, Casa Santinamaria is one of only a few ‘field blended' vineyards remaining in California. Due to the age of the vines and the fact that they have been dry farmed, the yields are low, the clusters are very small and the fruit is very concentrated. In 2001 we were able to harvest only 0.5 tons/acre. This wine, a classic field blend of Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Carignane, Alicante Bouschet and Mataro, represents the often unrealized elegance and complexity that we feel great zinfandel is capable of.
Winemaking:
In 2001 the brix at harvest was approximately 26 when the fruit was right to pick. The fruit was picked with optimum care, in small bins and in the cool of the day. The grapes were de-stemmed into an open-top fermenter (95% whole berry), “cold-soaked” for 24 hours, and inoculated with a low rate of yeast - this allows the “wild yeast” to have an effect before the cultured yeast takes over. After fermentation began, we punched-down 3 to 4 times daily. The “must” was pressed at approximately zero brix and allowed to finish fermentation in tank. After fermentation was completed, the wine was racked to new and one year old French barrels. The wine was aged for 22 months.
Tasting Notes:
The 2001 Casa Santinamaria Zinfandel has an intense raspberry and dried cranberry signature that seems to run from year to year along with black cherry/berry, dark chocolate and sweet elegant oak tones. On the mouth this wine has great structure with abundant dried raspberry flavors.
Case Production : 310 cases
15.0 % Alc
TA 0.620
pH 3.2


Cheers
Jeff Gaffner
Saxon Brown Wines

Any idea of the approximate varietal blend (other than >=75% zin)?

And the Syrah -- is it 100%?

You had me a Saxon...
In for Three
I recall the Saxon Zins last time were probably my favorite Woot purchase to date.

cheers

jgaffner wrote:2001 Zinfandel – Casa Santinamaira vineyard:
Planted before the turn of the previous century on one of the most magnificent sites in all of Sonoma Valley, Casa Santinamaria is one of only a few ‘field blended' vineyards remaining in California. Due to the age of the vines and the fact that they have been dry farmed, the yields are low, the clusters are very small and the fruit is very concentrated. In 2001 we were able to harvest only 0.5 tons/acre. This wine, a classic field blend of Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Carignane, Alicante Bouschet and Mataro, represents the often unrealized elegance and complexity that we feel great zinfandel is capable of.
Winemaking:
In 2001 the brix at harvest was approximately 26 when the fruit was right to pick. The fruit was picked with optimum care, in small bins and in the cool of the day. The grapes were de-stemmed into an open-top fermenter (95% whole berry), “cold-soaked” for 24 hours, and inoculated with a low rate of yeast - this allows the “wild yeast” to have an effect before the cultured yeast takes over. After fermentation began, we punched-down 3 to 4 times daily. The “must” was pressed at approximately zero brix and allowed to finish fermentation in tank. After fermentation was completed, the wine was racked to new and one year old French barrels. The wine was aged for 22 months.
Tasting Notes:
The 2001 Casa Santinamaria Zinfandel has an intense raspberry and dried cranberry signature that seems to run from year to year along with black cherry/berry, dark chocolate and sweet elegant oak tones. On the mouth this wine has great structure with abundant dried raspberry flavors.
Case Production : 310 cases
15.0 % Alc
TA 0.620
pH 3.2


Cheers
Jeff Gaffner
Saxon Brown Wines

Thanks Jeff. Sounds like another great one.

When you have a minute, could you comment on the remaining drinking window for both the 2000 Zinfandel and the 2004 Syrah. The two previous woots.

The 2000 Zin in particular has had a number of folks comment that it may be starting to decline. Does your comparison to an aged Brunello refute these "decline" observations, or is it a different way of looking at how the wine is changing?

Loweeel wrote:Any idea of the approximate varietal blend (other than >=75% zin)?

And the Syrah -- is it 100%?

Not really. I wish I had the time to map the vineyard, I think I would learn a lot
Jeff

Loweeel wrote:Any idea of the approximate varietal blend (other than >=75% zin)?

yep. i know exactly what you're thinking. from the tasting notes for its 1999 & 2000 siblings that i recently received through the Moon Valley Wine Club:

Tasting Notes:
Both the 1999 and 2000 have the intense raspberry, dried cranberry site signature that has made the Casa Santinamaria one of those wines people look for. The difference between the two vintages is the '99 had a slightly larger Petite Sirah crop, giving it a more extracted, concentrated structure - which will make it one of thos Zin's that will age for 20+ years. The 2000 has a softer, richer, more elegant mouthfeel which tends to show off the dark chocolate and sweet oak tones. Please taste both wines for a perfect example of what a vintage can show.

Loweeel wrote:Any idea of the approximate varietal blend (other than >=75% zin)?

And the Syrah -- is it 100%?

sorry - the Syrah is 100%

I have to leave for my meeting, but here's a quickie.

We marinated the steaks in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and salt and pepper and grilled them. Accompanying them were steamed green beans and mashed potatoes and au jus gravy (the pesto we saved for tomorrow).

The wine got fruitier with an hour in the decanter and with the food. But it's still DARK, pitted fruits. It lost almost all the alcohol heat, this is NOT a hot wine at all, which I very much appreciate. The tannins softened almost completely, not sure if this was the food (probably) or just time in the decanter - I had to really think about it to pull any tannins out of the experience.

Did it change significantly? Yes, but not in it's prime quality of being SMOOOTH and Elegant.

My wife's comment: "This goes EXCEEDINGLY well with these steaks, and especially with my balsamic marinade."

Consensus: Excellent wine and I wish I would have bought more. Looking forward to Thursday's offering.

I'm off to my meeting. We'll finish the bottle after I get home and I'll write another report.

norvegicus wrote:Consensus: Excellent wine and I wish I would have bought more. Looking forward to Thursday's offering.

Nice review. You can always open another account with another card and order more. Erm, so I've heard...

andyduncan wrote:Nice review. You can always open another account with another card and order more. Erm, so I've heard...

Or gift another set or two to your wife ......

norvegicus wrote:OK I couldn't wait until dinner. Popped the cork and decided to decant it for a bit before dinner. My wife and I each had a little taste. Both of us are wine review neophytes.

There were some crystals on the cork, so I wiped out the bottle neck carefully.

COLOR
This wine is a VERY dark, almost opaque, purplish, burgundy ,PLUM color. It looks like a much older wine, not like I'd expect a 2006 to look.

FRAGRANCE
Me: this is a savory wine, not fruity, I smell tobacco, leather, EARTH, and a hint of cherry pits, tiny bit of alcohol heat but you have to think about it to notice it

wife: PLUM, earthy

consensus: dark, pitted fruits

FLAVOR

STRONG early hit on the tip of the tongue with some heat quickly progressing to the sides with acidity. Tannins hit hard and early. Kind of a short finish, or maybe it's just a subtle finish that is really smooth. The tannin dry feeling on my tongue doesn't last uncomfortably long at all.

It tastes like it smells, very earthy, not very fruity except for DARK, PITTED fruit.

NONE of this is harsh at all. Overall impression is SMOOOOOOOTH and ELEGANT and COMPLEX. The only time I notice any alcohol heat is right at the beginning and then it's gone.

This is a VERY complex wine, especially for a youngish varietal. I'm impressed. For a wine this young to be this complex and smoooooth right out of the bottle is rare.

This is delicious wine. I'm very much looking forward to having it with dinner: grilled filet mignon and some fresh home made pesto pasta.

I just decanted it. More later.

Basil pesto. I love it, and make tons of it every summer, but it's a tough wine match. I have had both some whites and some reds that work okay with pesto, and a lot that really clash. I'm still searching for the ideal match. If anybody thinks they have one, please let me know so I can try it.

norvegicus wrote:I have to leave for my meeting, but here's a quickie.

A mid-evening quickie before your meeting. Sweet! That's the way to live, man.

Seriously though, nice review. I'm almost in. Labrous going to be reporting on these maybe?

Loweeel wrote:Any idea of the approximate varietal blend (other than >=75% zin)?

And the Syrah -- is it 100%?

I believe Casa Santinamaria actually is >75% Zin, which a lot of great old Zin vineyards aren't. As a BATF (now ATT) agent once told me, "Who cares if Lytton Springs or any of those other great old vineyards are actually 75%, they taste like Zin." If memory serves, PS is the most abundant of the minority grapes at Santinamaria, with smatterings of the others that Jeff mentioned and a couple of others I won't mention because he didn't. I got to know the vineyard fairly well in the 90's - Jeff "sold" (it was a complicated arrangement) us the grapes for seven years. I'm still sad Jeff decided to start his own brand - it's an awesome vineyard.

I really was trying to hold out, but considering everything said so far about the Zin, it was impossible. In for 3.

SonomaBouliste wrote:and a couple of others I won't mention because he didn't.

It's Kiwis and Brussels sprouts, isn't it?

jgaffner wrote:Yonj46
I wish more Zins were made in a more classical style and not late harvest Zin calling itself by another name. I think a lot of the 2005s had a hard time being the big LH Zin and the many winemakers really don’t know how to make Zin any other way so many 05 are just odd.
Cheers
Jeff Gaffner
Saxon Brown Wines

Putting my consumer hat on now ;) I love this statement and I really want to blow all of last week's profits and pull the trigger! I miss the classical style of Zins and I'm really glad to see that there are winemakers that are getting back to that.

eljefetwisted wrote:Putting my consumer hat on now ;) I love this statement and I really want to blow all of last week's profits and pull the trigger! I miss the classical style of Zins and I'm really glad to see that there are winemakers that are getting back to that.

didn't you just know eljefetwisted was one of those who would stick around?
Nice..

WD

Back from meeting. What a waste of time.

My wife says she has a headache and doesn't want any more wine. I don't think the wine is to blame. At any rate I'm going to have one more small glass and then funnel the rest back into the bottle, put it under vacuum with the VacuVin, and put it in the refrigerator until tomorrow night.

So final review for this evening:

Wine has been in the decanter for about three hours I think. Fragrance is a bit muted.

Tannins are back. So it was the food that was muting them almost completely. They hit later in the profile and last into the finish now. Still not obtrusive, but definitely there. They are bit softer than earlier but last longer.

The huge early hit to the tip of my tongue is gone, the acid goes right to the sides now.

The finish is longer.

Flavor has definitely evolved. Much more CHERRY in there now, for some reason I want to call this cherry pits. ??? But there are flavors now that I don't remember from earlier. Cork (it tastes like cork smells, pretty subtle though). Caramel (the lighter side of the flavor of caramel, with no stickiness or heaviness to it, if that makes sense). Coffee ? Kind of like the brightness of a Kenya bean combined with the sweetness of a Central American bean, this is really subtle though.(I am a total coffeehead and actually am better at reviewing coffee than wine)

The legs are still HUGE - there are legs up the side of the glass for minutes. Literally.

In general though the overall impression is "brighter" than earlier and if anything even smooooother. Less complex though, there is a lot of stuff missing from earlier.

This wine doesn't really need decanting. I can't say that it improved with decanting, it just changed, not for the worse or better, just different.

I don't know enough to give any real comments on aging windows but this wine is delicious right now, right out of the bottle.

Thank you Winedavid for this opportunity and for bringing us these wonderful wines. Living way up north in a small town in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan I don't have many interesting wine buying choices locally. The miracle of modern telecommunications and wine.woot is much appreciated. Cheers!

eric9tx wrote:click here

I just bought that cellar. I think a lot of others did too. It's on sale for $140.

Well i didn't have a meeting but it was a long day. As mentioned the bottle was warm to the touch when I got it but cooled it down and place in 56f wine fridge when home.

at opening the bottle was 63f and he wine was 58f when poured
half was decanted and wont be ready to drink for another 20 min (60 min total)

I have some pics for the colour but I have to add them in a minute. Very purple like a malbec

My wife and I had this and she is not a red wine lover but when she likes it its generally good

Aroma: definitely berry up front with cherries and blackberries some background oak/tobacco

Taste: early heat that softened within 20 min of the glass. medium long finish. up front blackberry/cherry/currant with lingering oak and ?graphite? maybe tobacco but much more cocoa as it sat in the glass. has the bite and tannin of a young wine but definitely drinkable now. general quotes :soft, easy, velvet finish, no surprises at the end, balanced.

overall definitely would buy at the $35 price point. (that's from my wife who doesn't really like red)

[img]http://images2b.snapfish.com/232323232%7Ffp53432%3Evq%3D3285%3E887%3E477%3EWSNRCG%3D323844333%3B37%3Cvq0mrj[img]

winefarm wrote:didn't you just know eljefetwisted was one of those who would stick around?
Nice..

WD

Good wine talk, good wine fun, my kinda people!

Trigger pulled!

mbrengman wrote:Well i didn't have a meeting but it was a long day. As mentioned the bottle was warm to the touch when I got it but cooled it down and place in 56f wine fridge when home.

at opening the bottle was 63f and he wine was 58f when poured
half was decanted and wont be ready to drink for another 20 min (60 min total)

I have some pics for the colour but I have to add them in a minute. Very purple like a malbec

My wife and I had this and she is not a red wine lover but when she likes it its generally good

Aroma: definitely berry up front with cherries and blackberries some background oak/tobacco

Taste: early heat that softened within 20 min of the glass. medium long finish. up front blackberry/cherry/currant with lingering oak and ?graphite? maybe tobacco but much more cocoa as it sat in the glass. has the bite and tannin of a young wine but definitely drinkable now. general quotes :soft, easy, velvet finish, no surprises at the end, balanced.

overall definitely would buy at the $35 price point. (that's from my wife who doesn't really like red)

[img]http://images2b.snapfish.com/232323232%7Ffp53432%3Evq%3D3285%3E887%3E477%3EWSNRCG%3D323844333%3B37%3Cvq0mrj[img]

Awesome Packed!

sorry not really good at the image upload. here is the tasting pic

eljefetwisted wrote:Good wine talk, good wine fun, my kinda people!

Trigger pulled!

eljefe... please feel free to drop by the pub as well. Plenty of off-topic (although mostly wine-related) conversation, including a few of us who have recently tried your PS.

Ok its two hours in the decanter now.

much softer on the tongue. a little more bright on the nose. I think the berry is softening. the heat is gone. I think it is more sophisticated now. The subtlety of he flavor requires more concentration. It is less of a wine for strong flavors now.
sting very good but different

If this is thursday i'd buy

andyduncan wrote:It's Kiwis and Brussels sprouts, isn't it?

I thought this was a CA wine. I kinda figured the first NZ would include INTLGerrard, and I haven't seen him on this thread, this week.

Wow - I've been labratted - THANK YOU powers that be/WineDavid!

Semi-unfortunately (because really, a free bottle of wine and the chance to get to try something first and influence others can never be ACTUALLY unfortunate), I got the Syrah, a varietal of which I am less fond and about which I am much less knowledgeable.

However, I shall try my best! The wine is chilling now (it's 92 degrees in my unairconditioned apartment here in Manhattan) - I put it in my fridge - how long do you think I should leave it in there for optimal testing temp?

Re, the cellar stuff (thanks for all your help folks and tolerating my endless questions and irrelevance to this thread): I ended up finding a compressor based eWave 25 bottle wine cellar on craigslist, 10 miles away in Queens, and was able to convince the seller to come deliver it to me TONIGHT for $60, so total cost including transport was $180, and it appears to be working well - it arrived just as pouring rain thundered down about 20 minutes ago, so I don't think it will cool down the Syrah enough for me to test it within the near future. Thus the fridge. (Freezer would be bad, right?)

Also, do you think I should decant, etc? Advise oh wise ones and I will tell you my thoughts shortly!