kylemittskus
quality posts: 267
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We tasted this wine and my first reaction was underripe fruit. 15.5% alc. Nope. Then klezman suggested it might have been 100% whole cluster fermentation. That's what it tasted like. It had a very astringent, green, bitter tannin streak it finished with and I'm not sure anyone liked it. Sorry, but this is an easy pass for me. Seems like a bad bottle when compared to trifecta's notes.
"If drinking is bitter, change yourself to wine." -Rainer Maria Rilke
"Champagne is a very kind and friendly thing on a rainy night." -Isak Dinesen
losthighwayz
quality posts: 85
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hershelk wrote:I had this about a month ago, and my recollections were much more positive then the ones listed above. I thought it had good fruit (not under ripe), a beautiful color, and was generally enjoyed by everyone who had some. I also can't find my notes, but remembered liking this one quite a bit. It was served at cellar temperature. However, we had the 2007 and it looks like the group with the brown bag tasting had the 2008. It could just be that the 2007 was far superior to the 2008.
I tasted this a few weeks back as well (2008) and I remember detecting A cough syrup note along with the green tannins mentioned here. I am wondering if it was a bad bottle or if there is bottle variation? I did not taste any Syrah-like qualities when it was brown bagged.
"The older I get the better I was"
kylemittskus
quality posts: 267
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almesawinery wrote:I am very confused! You can't be talking about Almesa Syrah. I have poured our wines for a lot of people and I have never heard anyone say our wine was "under-ripe","green", or bitter. I think you need to take notes next time. Our syrah is smooth and soft on the palate. The first thing you'll notice when you taste our syrah is big fruit that fills your mouth and then becomes velvet smooth and finishes with a smooth lingering of light smokey oak. No tannins or bitterness. These are tasting notes that better describe Almesa Syrah.
I assure you, our tasting notes are just fine. This was tasted by about 15 people, some of whom have palates I know very well and trust immensely. It is entirely possible that we got a bad bottle (I had a bad bottle of Vacqueyras last night). However, attacking (maybe too harsh of a word) our tasting notes -- that, again, were consistent among all of us -- and correcting our notes instead of suggesting that our bottle was off comes off as arrogant, even if that's not your intent. By the way, I hope a 2008 Syrah has tannins! Green and astringent are, obviously, not ideal, but structure is a must for most of us.
This is the first time you're offering your wines on woot (welcome! Can you identify yourself? Wine maker? Marketing?) and I know that it can be difficult to offer your hard work up to the sacrificial boards, but we are a very well educated, intelligent group when it comes to wine. Telling us that we're wrong and that you've poured it to X number of people whose palates we don't know at all and who could all be Coors light drinkers for all we know really doesn't help us at all. Indeed, it may hurt you within this community.
"If drinking is bitter, change yourself to wine." -Rainer Maria Rilke
"Champagne is a very kind and friendly thing on a rainy night." -Isak Dinesen
kylemittskus
quality posts: 267
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almesawinery wrote:I am the winemaker and I did not mean to offend anyone or make light of your comments. It's just that the descriptions definitely do not sound like our wine. I can only assume that it was a bad bottle. I appreciate your comments.
Kim
Did you ferment whole cluster at all for the 2008?
"If drinking is bitter, change yourself to wine." -Rainer Maria Rilke
"Champagne is a very kind and friendly thing on a rainy night." -Isak Dinesen
neilfindswine
quality posts: 175
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Guest Blogger
WD and I tasted this a few months back and while we didn't take detailed notes, we both agreed that this was quality stuff.
The notes from SoCal indicate bad bottle to me. The wines we tasted did not have the flavors mentioned- I would have remembered that.
I've been known to enjoy a Paso Syrah in my day, and I quite enjoyed these.
I reported to winedavid39...
kylemittskus
quality posts: 267
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almesawinery wrote:Kyle
We are a very small winery and we hand pick our fruit and remove all leaves and stems prior to fermentation. We do not whole cluster ferment as Kiezman suggested. Our vineyard is on the east side of Paso Robles so we get a lot of heat during the growing season, hence the high sugar/alc content in our syrah. After fermentation I age our wines in 1year old French oak barrels for 2 years. Thought you might like to know my approach to making our wine. Thanks for your comments.
Kim
The more info you can give us, the better. Most of us are wine nerds. We love numbers, stats, and inside info. I'm a huge Paso fan and don't mind the high alc. at all. Sparky (one of the board members) is interested in your port-styled Syrah.
"If drinking is bitter, change yourself to wine." -Rainer Maria Rilke
"Champagne is a very kind and friendly thing on a rainy night." -Isak Dinesen
neilfindswine
quality posts: 175
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ERMD wrote:So who's paso Syrah would you say is closes in taste.
I REALLY enjoy paso syrahs from mike mooney's chateau margene to Stephan's L'Aventure (east vs west).
Least I forget Madison cellars
Afraid I can't make a comparison, it was a couple o' months ago, we tasted a few things that day and I didn't take notes. But I know I liked it....
I reported to winedavid39...
neilfindswine
quality posts: 175
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ThunderThighs wrote:You're not seeing a good example here. You're supposed to take excellent notes!
I know. I can't read my own writing half the time.
I reported to winedavid39...