Well, it was the end to another long work week. I had some co-workers over after work for a few drinks as it has been a busy week for us all. This was definitely a night to pull out a "special occasion" wine. It took a while to decide, but I chose to go with the wine I brought back from my last visit to Napa.
I was in Napa in early February and decided to stop at my favorite carneros winery, Acacia Vineyard. For those of you who have not yet experienced a single vineyard wine by Acacia, you need to do so immediately(immediately after you finish this blog of course)! Matthew Glynn is the senior winemaker at Acacia and he has been getting great scores on the pinot noir and chardonnay he has been producing, most notably the Sangiacomo Chardonnay and the Winery Lake and Lone Tree Vineyard Pinot Noirs.
Before I start to sound like an advertisement, let me talk more about my visit to Acacia. The drive alone is beautiful, on a road that winds through various rolling hillside vineyards. The curves and lack of traffic tempt the rally driver in you, however smarts always prevail so this last part is just a dream.
I have now visited Acacia twice and have brought back a bottle of this each time. Now you are dying to know, what is this wine you speak of? The one which caused you to go off on a tangent before even mentioning the wines name! The most delicious syrah I have ever had with exceptional fruit and spice, but still no name. Tell me you demand! Okay, I will tell you. The wine is none other than the Scott Ranch Syrah.
What??? You have never heard of it? Well this is a very limited production wine so I would be more suprised if you have heard of it. I first tried the 07 vintage during my first trip to Acacia Vineyard last year and it was amazing so I had to bring a bottle back to my hotel for dinner.I have only had one other syrah which was similar to this, that was the Jade Mountain Syrah Mount Veeder Paras Vineyard 03 which I may add is also spectacular.
2007 was a great year overall in California. This certainly shows in the wine which was a delightful experience for us all! I was the only one in the group who has tasted this before and I was almost as excited to hear other opinions on this wine as I was to taste it. What was my opinion you ask?
Acacia Vineyard Syrah Sonoma Coast Scott Ranch 07 is an experience in a bottle, I definitely recommend decanting this wine as it will most certainly contain sediment. The color was dark and rich, almost like a dark plum. What a great start, I chose to let this breathe about 20 minutes and it needed it. It started out overpoweringly spicy but after breathing it was complex. Delicious flavors of currant, pepper and plum alongside aromas of vanilla, anise and cedar notes. The finish was long and the tannins were definitely smooth.
I was not alone and eyeryone loved this choice. The special occasion was not the particular night, rather that it was spent with friends who can appreciate a great wine. While we finished the only bottle I had rather quickly, I was reminded of a certain line from a song, "Whatever will be, will be". This is true, because while I may not get another bottle from this spectacular vintage. The experience is what made it worth it, que syrah, syrah!
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