I’m signed up for a lot of e-mail offers and this wine from Londer Syrah Gabrielli Vineyard 2002 Redwood Valley really surprised me. I considered it just a throw-in on a special 3-pack from Londer. I really wanted to try the other two wines, but I couldn’t get the free shipping unless I took this one, too. And, boy, am I glad I did. I loved it.
This is not your typical New World Syrah/Shiraz jammy fruit bomb. Not that fruit is missing: blueberry, cherry, red fruit, even some blackberry, but also cedar, vanilla, spiciness, pepper, enough acid to handle food, enough tannin to handle some aging, but balanced. I wish I had a case of it.
Drinking this wine made me think of a tree-lined gravel road on a hot, late-summer day. I could practically hear the cicadas. This really reminded me of wines from the northern Rhone.
And, oh, the finish on this wine is Loooooooooong. I finished this bottle a week ago, and I can still taste it. I loved this wine. I couldn’t stop drinking it. I was crushed when I realized the bottle was empty. Then, I passed out on the couch. Don’t tell my wife.
