I just ordered their Quarantine special!!! Have you had those ones?
That was my second order of the syrahs in like a month. Been drinking Paulās syrah since his inaugural vintage, and they are getting better by the year.
The mourvedre was nice, but itās not on the same level of the syrah. I have not yet tried the GSM blend.
Nate, if you like Northern Rhone continue to buy them as California syrah is certainly different. If you want to try some delicious California syrah that are balanced, fresh, little to no oak influence and moderate alcohol my choices would be:
Halcon, excellent syrah and great value
Edmunds St. John, Steveās syrah and other wines have stood the test of time. His 90ās syrah are legend
Jolie-Laide, they make a āNorth Coastā value syrah which is excellent and a syrah from Halcon vineyard which is some of the best syrah you can find anywhere in the wine world. Had a 2015 last night I need to write up.
Tom
Peay. For those who like higher cooler elevation 100% Syrah. Also lower alcohol levels. My palate may be a little contrarian to the norm.
Arcadian all the way. These wines are released with age on them.
ESJ
Arnot Roberts
Best? I donāt drink enough Syrah to claim expertiseā¦but at this exact moment, Iām sipping on a 2016 Cabot Marier Syrah. John Cabot makes very solid value Syrah. Restrained, balanced, good tension and worth every penny. As a Berserker, youāll be making a serious mistake not to at least try someā¦especially, the value offers to the BB. More Crozes-Hermitage like than so many monstrous Parker-pointers of yesteryear.
Iām also partial to offerings from Goodfellow and Biggio-Hamina.
RT
Iāll just pile on and say what Ive said for years: Arcadian and Edmunds St John do it for me.
And a timely thread, as I dropped a 2013 Edmunds St John North Canyon Fenaughty and Barsotti into a decanter about 5 mins ago. ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
Thanks! I am slowly checking out all of these websites. Some I have heard of/hadā¦a lot I have not. Thank you all for your responses. This place is great!
Forgot these. Definitely worth a nod.
RT
I just tried to look them up as they are mentioned by a few of you. Yup, out of businessā¦or at least no current website.
I agree about the Cabot Syrah. I have purchased the aged 6-pack each of the past two BDs. Great value at $25/bottle.
Come and meet the owner/winemaker Paul for yourself on Thursday.
Doing a zoom for Rhone varieties
Two of my all time favorites are the Sasha and the Calypso Vineyard syrah that Fred (Scherrer) makes.
Arcadian is not out of business. Their website, however, is.
You can reach them at:
joelle@arcadianwinery.com
Donelan, Betz, Bedrock, Pax, Riverain, Arcadian, Copain, Force Majeure, and Myriad make up most of my holdings.
My immediate answer was Qupe and Jaffurs and then I remember both have been sold and the owners/ winemakers are really not all that engaged anymore. Bob Lindquist is now concentrating on his wines under Verdad & Lindquist Family Wines labels although he is still āconsultingā. Craig Jaffurs has pretty much retired altho he does some consulting for others and has a good friendships with the new owner. Nonetheless, both made some spectacular Syrahs under their namesake labels and there are numerous bottles around to still be had and enjoyed.
Same with Wind Gap. Pax wonāt be making it any more
The OP didnāt say what style he preferred - some of these are more N.Rhone - Halcon, ESJ, Wind Gap, Biggio Hamina (but no more), Baker Lane (all about bacon), Fogline and a few others. I love those.
Some are quite different but still good - Betz, Cayuse, Donelan. And some are big style and completely different - Alban, Saxum.
and donāt forget SQN; maybe that falls into the category of the biggest style.
Lots of good syrah mentioned here. Not sure if Rhys (Horseshoe), Dehlinger or Scherrer have been mentioned.
Some I know and like:
Halcon
Lagier Meredith
Peay
Rhys
Pax (Hillsides the only recent one Iāve had)
Big Basin