Bonny Doon Vineyard
Alamo Creek Syrah
2007
13.3% ABV | Price: about $35*
A meaty, gamey Syrah with a bewitching nose of voilets and leather and earth. It’s a brilliant red-purple, still young and very fresh. Tight at first, we gave it a gentle decanting to let it unfold awhile and warm from cellar temperature. It opened easily, spreading into smooth-textured black bramble fruits and peppery spice around an earthy, savory core. Deeply reminiscent of Northern Rhône Hermitage or Côte-Rôtie (without the latter’s enlivenment of Viognier); this wine could age a very long time.
*Disclosure: Bonny Doon Vineyard is my employer. I paid about $28 for this bottle, which I purchased as a wine club member before I started working for the company.
