Wednesday, September 22, 2010

WA vs. WS

Tale of the Tape:

In this Corner:
the Great Wine Advocate
Robert Parker
and
2005 Lagier Meredith Syrah 95pts.

In this Corner:
the great Wine Spectator
and
2006 Landmark Steel Plow Syrah 94pts.

Lagier Meredith comes in with, a beautiful deep ruby/purple hue and is accompanied by aromas of blueberries, black raspberries, spice, and ground pepper. Displaying a seamless integration of acidity, alcohol, tannin, and wood. Robert Parker; Wine Advocate # 174 Dec 2007

Landmark "Steel Plow" Syrah comes in with loads of pepper, beef, dark berry, teriyaki, mineral and spice. Intense, distinctive, full-bodied and focused, this is so complex and well-proportioned that all the flavors work together seamlessly." #19 on the Wine Spectator's Top 100 Wines of 2009 - March 2009



Sitting on the bench and wanting to come into the game. 2006 Vice Versa Syrah - 2008 Booker Fracture Syrah - 2007 Jelly Roll Syrah - 2007 Booker Vertigo Syrah - 2005 Bremer Family Syrah - 2006 Shafer Relentless Syrah - and 2006 Hitching Post Syrah.

Ok so that is a baseball reference and not a boxing match term. But all of the wine poured on this evening from my La Canada Grand Crew Wine Club were great examples of a grape that I have become very fond of in the last year.

Syrah you say?? Well I do have a bit of Pinot "BURN OUT" and I have not found a great expression of Cabernet that has rocked my socks off in the last few years, so I have fallen on the way side of finding "Good" - "Solid" - "Affordable" and last but not least "Drinkable" grape varietals. That wont break my bank account and could still hold some aging potential.

Syrah just fits the bill. Yep, that dark skinned grape that sometimes yields octopus or squid ink in a glass. Black as night!! Or perhaps it can yield pepper, then more pepper, followed by yet more pepper with an occasional splash of blackberries and espresso. But what about the true Cotes du Rhone style of bacon fat, leather, earth and truffle. Yeah! that sounds pretty tasty as well. Can't there just be 1 wine with all of those characteristics??

Keep an eye out folks. You just might be surprised one day like I was when I drank La Sirena Barrett Vineyard syrah or Agharta syrah.

Hey wait a minute!!
Why the heck did I not pour one of those wineS for this tasting???
Why????
Because I wanna win dammit!

Let me release to the masses the biggest - jammiest monster of them all. With a name like Jelly Roll how can I lose. Ooppss! I lost! To a cheaper and more consistent wine this evening.

BACK TO THE BOXING MATCH~~~
Spectator has advocate on the ropes. Spectator is pummeling advocate with hard lefts and right. Advocate is covering up trying to avoid the blows. Advocate just cant seem to get out of the way. More body shots from Spectator. He is moving in for the KILL!

AND WAIT
~~~

DOWN GOES PARKER - DOWN GOES PARKER!
Parker is trying to get up ~ 8-9-10!!! IT'S OVER!!

AND THE WINNER by KO - 2006 LANDMARK STEEL PLOW SYRAH. A Spectator 94pt wine. Good job Brad. You will be rewarded by having me look for more Landmark wines to taste and try. And as for 2005 Lagier Meredith Syrah! A Robert Parker 95pt wine? Hopefully Steve can redeem himself at our next tasting with a great wine. It's your choice Steve, pick a great theme. I still like "Pink Shit"! as a theme, but that's just me.

As for the rest of the wines, that just didnt cut it on this night. Better luck next time~ 5 of the wines represented were Parker 90pt plus wines. Of the 5, Booker Fracture came in at the highest position in the line up at number 3. Followed by Jelly Roll at 4th. Right in the middle again for me. Just like the Merlot Tasting. Oh well~ Then Came the other Booker wine in the mix Vertigo. With 3rd from the bottom being Shafer Relentless. Oh my~ Mr Jilg, What Happened? Just so you know, I rated that wine #1 of the evening and the Landmark was 3rd from the Bottom. Oh well, what the hell do I know~~~

Good times by all! On a perfect evening outdoors!
I must thank our host Genji for a great theme to our tasting.

Just think of what might of happened if Cotes du Rhone would of been allowed.
Hmmmmm? A great question! Nah!

Robert Parker would of eaten them up alive and been dancing around the ring yelling
USA USA USA!

Cheers~