Syrah from California and Cote-Rotie

This flight of Syrah takes us from the freshness of new fruit in California, to the development of bottle bouquet in wines from 2003 – excellent all around, featuring different expressions of the same grape over time and over both sides of the Atlantic.

Foxen, Santa Ynez Valley, Williamson-Dore Vineyard, Syrah 2007 As in previous vintages, this wine exudes fruit with a vivaciousness of being freshly squeezed. In addition there is a bit of tar and brown spice. In the mouth the theme continues, with a very supple texture, dense, filling out the entire palate – very nice. The wine is neither fined nor filtered. Produced and bottled in Santa Maria 14.8% purchased for $35.99 at Bottle Barn Foxen

Pierre Gaillard, Cote-Rotie, “Les Viallieres” 2003 This wine has developed some excellent bottle-aged complexity, with a sense of cured meat, coffee, dried cherries and cloves. In the mouth it displays the great ripeness of 2003, a bit of Band-Aid for complexity and the suppleness of age, with a velvety mouthfeel and plenty of acidity – very nice. Les Viallieres is a lieux-dit in the north of the appellation. 15% Viognier is co-fermented with this mostly Syrah wine. The wine was not filtered and bottled as a special selection for North Berkeley Imports, thus the designation of Cuvee Unique. Mis par Pierre Gaillard, proprietaire-recoltant a Malleval 14% purchased for $75.29 at Bottle Barn Pierre Gaillard

DuMol, Russian River Valley, eddie’s patch, Syrah 2003 The fruit in this wine has more of a liqueur-like quality, sweet-appearing with a bit of alcohol poking its head out. In the mouth it is quite plush, with a thickness, making it rich and luxurious – very nice. The grapes for this wine were sourced from the Hoppe Family Vineyard. The wine was aged for 16 months in French oak, 50% of it being new. Proprietors Kerry Murphy and Michael Verlander. The wine is neither fined nor filtered. Produced and bottled in Santa Rosa 15.2% one bottle available at Belmont Wine in San Carlos for $85, this bottle was a gift from a friend DuMol Wines