Popped & poured at a fairly cool temperature.
Strong nose of strawberries & raspberries dancing around and above a more reclusive and reticent underlying backbone of body funk.
Very light on its feet, sporting excellent acidity, but with a persistent sense of presence to the mouthfeel.
Just about a perfect accompaniment to a slow roast in pepperoncini peppers [friggitelli?] with assorted seasonings.
I don’t know whether California wines can get any more food-friendly than this.
Huge fan of Lucia Syrah’s. Try and find their Susan’s Hill Syrah. Its a block within the Pisoni Vineyard and is one of my favorite Syrah’s in California. Killer bottle for $50-$60.
Pinot Noir or Syrah?
I love Lucia Gary’s wines too. Reliably delicious, and quite underrated, I think. One of the great SLH vineyards, without doubt.
Got me thinking, what are the SLH vineyards? I got 4 on my own and tasted wine from at least 8 vineyards that I know.
I bought quite a few '07 and '08s. Drank through them except for one remaining bottle of Gary’s Syrah. Very well made and enjoyable wines.
Sorry, I wasn’t even aware that the Garys had planted any Syrah.
This was the Pinot.
For several days, I tried to coax something more out of the bottle, but it wouldn’t give me anything.
With the proviso that I have zero experience cellaring Cal-Pinot, my guess is that this 2013 will be strongly in a “pop-n-pour drink now” window for the next few years, and you would probably want to finish your stash no later than the 2023 to 2028 timeframe.
And I certainly wouldn’t want to risk decanting - that would be a waste of a great wine.
Again, though, I have no experience cellaring Cal-Pinot.