I get some of the funky flavors, but not nearly to the level that I see in other’s tasting notes. Perhaps I am just not that affected by them. I do like a little barnyard in wines as well.
I do have to say that if my wife detected cabbagey smells in them, she would not like them as much as she does- she hates many forms of cooked cabbage, brussel sprouts, etc, based on the smell.
[quote=“Scott Gruner”]I get some of the funky flavors, but not nearly to the level that I see in other’s tasting notes. Perhaps I am just not that affected by them. I do like a little barnyard in wines as well.
quote]
Scott, have you had the 06 En Chamberlin recently? Definitley not for the funky faint of heart. Hey, that would be a good name for a rock band though!
David,
With high pH wines storage is everything, if they’re kept cold like Parkers, I can see no issues arising. It doesn’t mean they aren’t there though. If they are stored at a warmer temp, even in the safe cellar range, these flaws can bloom and ne readily apparent.
This conversation should be about storage and Temp versus “flaws” that a lab identifies.
Informative, Kris. I’m just trying to say that some of these characteristics/flaws seem acceptable in certain instances but conveniently not in others.
I understand that temperature is crucial when discussing blooming of bacteria (flaws). What are you then saying about Cayuse? It’s not stored properly when tasted by these “haters”?
Nope- I generally don’t touch any for 3-5 years. I will see if I can dig one out. I did notice that the CT scores are all 92+ with two exceptions.
It seems they shut down the discussion on their blog. Kind of a disappointing response in the end.
Initially I was thinking this was a turn of their blog from being pure “homers” to something a bit more critical. But I guess they just wanted to prove to themselves the wine they didn’t like had a technical flaw, thus it was justified. Instead of engaging criticism in the comments, they more or less dismissed them.
They could have taken this is an interesting direction. I guess I come back to thinking pretty much the same thing about their blog as before. It’s a podium for them to hammer home their opinions as fact.
What a train wreck this is. Thanks to Sean Sullivan for putting a reasoned rebuttal together.
It is too bad he shut down comments seemingly in response to her bitchy comment. Such a sad PC world, I would have liked to have applauded Sean’s thoughtful response.
Informative, Kris. I’m just trying to say that some of these characteristics/flaws seem acceptable in certain instances but conveniently not in others.
I understand that temperature is crucial when discussing blooming of bacteria (flaws). What are you then saying about Cayuse? It’s not stored properly when tasted by these “haters”?
Possibly. I’m saying that in any wines case, not just Cayuse, the flaw is always there, but might not present itself if stored in a cold cellar.
The whole thing smacks of trying to get attention by attacking someone for no real reason, that really proves no point. Test every WA Syrah, and then it might be in context, but one data point is hardly a scientific conclusion, in college you’d get an F for the paper the blog wrote.
People haven’t stopped buying BV, Beaucastel, Clos Des Papes, etc…and they all had issues at some point in regards to flaws. The only real flaw IMO is TCA, the rest are in the eye, or mouth of the taster and it is your decision if it is flawed or not. In Cayuse’s case I think most people have voted no.
It is too bad he shut down comments seemingly in response to her bitchy comment. Such a sad PC world, I would have liked to have applauded Sean’s thoughtful response.
Thanks Glenn! I was mainly just trying to direct all commentary to a single spot where the original post was to make it easier on people reading it - and because Kori appeared to take umbrage at me posting about the subject thinking I was trying to steal comments from her.
Anthony, thanks!
Kris,
I guess I don’t agree with you that you have to test every WA state syrah to put it into context. I don’t think that sampling one bottle (or even one bottling) is sufficient to draw a conclusion about a winery (god forbid anyone did that with just one of our wines) – but I also don’t think that every wine would need to be tested to say that a winery has a problem with X.
Adam Lee
Siduri Wines
Do so on his Facebook page, that is where I posted. (Washington Wine Report)
…
Uh, nevermind, apparently Sean is a Closet Berserker as well as a Blogosphere troublemaker… 
Adam,
I guess what I was trying to get across is that one point of reference is not a fact, and presenting it as concrete evidence about a producers entire range of wines as flawed is overzealous at best and slanderous at worst.
I have a real issue with one data point condemning anything other than a felony in the eyes of the law.
It’s pretty simple, it’s wine, like it then buy it, don’t then move on.
Last time I had Cayuse I poured it down the drain. Just sayin’ ![[stirthepothal.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/f/f40faec63ca1018898a40805efbf9f0066a3d205.gif "[stirthepothal.gif]"){kind=small}
I have another in the cellar so I will re-evaluate when it gets opened. I wonder if it’s like cilantro- you either love it or hate it!
Screw that. If she’s concerned about ‘stealing comments’ amongst blogs she needs to learn how the web works.
Couple of other (random) thoughts and questions –
As a producer I have mixed feelings about this whole thing. But there have been several times when customers have said, “Siduri Wine X is just too sweet” and I’ve sent them a lab report showing that there is no residual sugar in the wine. So I couldn’t really complain, then, if somebody used a lab analysis to show that something was off with my wine, could I?
There are, I believe, legal Federal limits on VA in wine, and suflites, and copper, and perhaps some of the Sulfide compounds as well. If a wine exceeded those limits could one call it flawed?
Adam Lee
Siduri Wines
What’s maybe most interesting about this whole post is the fact that the wine they put the Cayuse up against, and apparently blew it out of the water, is a wine that throughout its history has been accused by many of having flaws in its own right.
Haven’t had the pleasure (or disappointment?) of trying a Cayuse yet. At the very least, I’m left intrigued.
Question for the Cayuse fans (I’ve not had a bottle in years) - does this description ring true of the 2004 Cayuse Cailloux Vineyard Syrah?
… The wine had aromas of pickle brine, almost to the point of being vinegary, as well as olives, cooked cabbage, and burnt matches. On the palate, it was hard to get to the fruit because of the flavors of canned corn, rotten vegetables, and decomposed greens. With our steak dinner, the wine seemed very bitter and even had a formaldehyde taste.
Jon - it’s my understanding that Beaucastel has recently done a lot to alleviate the brett issues they’ve had.
Absolutely. I’ve had both the '05 and '06 in recent weeks and both were lights out good! But older vintages have proven less than consistent.