Sonoma Vineyards Syrah 2007

Type- Red
Producer- Sonoma Vineyards
Variety- Syrah
Country- USA
Region- California
SubRegion- Sonoma County
Appellation- Sonoma County
Alcohol- 13.8%
Price- approx. $20.00



"Ta-Dah!" The Little Wooden Guy thinks he's found a good wine at a great price.

I received this as a free sample from Sonoma Vineyards. This is their first release of Syrah and it will have a suggested retail price of $15. According to the information sent with the wine, the fruit comes from the Russian River Valley and Alexander Valley.

Night One

Color was deep inky purple, going to bright shiny ruby at the edges.

The nose is a pleasure, a meat and jam-filled treat. Bunches of black fruit are softened with some bloody meat, along with cinnamon and black pepper. It is the kind of wine you can just smell for the longest time, forgetting for a while you are supposed to drink the stuff.

Blackberries, barely sweet real ones, not jam, and black pepper are clearly delineated flavors on the initial attack. Sometimes you struggle to discern one taste from the next, or to distinguish different kinds of black fruit. This is not one of those times. No, this is like blackberries dusted with black pepper just popping in your mouth. The mid-palate turned slightly toward red fruit, tart unsweetened cranberries. An hour later some chocolate joined the red fruit. The finish was mid-length. Fine smooth tannins are a little mouth-drying, but not puckering like a young cabernet, offering plenty of structure.

Night Two

After a night under the screw-cap top alcohol seems to have concentrated. The nose was hot for about an hour after re-opening. Once that blew off black fruit led the nose, along with some chocolate.

Plums and some blueberries, plus loads of milk chocolate, open the attack. This seems to have sweetened considerably over night. Some vanilla appeared on the mid-palate, an obvious result of eight months in French and American oak, but it was balanced, not over-powering. The finish fell off rather quickly.

This is a very good QPR (quality to price ratio) wine. It gives some classic Syrah tastes, particularly the black pepper and smooth tannins. For a mere $15 this is a nice bottle.

Rockaway

Vintage- 2005
Type- Red
Producer- Rodney Strong
Variety- 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Malbec, 4% Petite Verdot
Vineyard- Rockaway
Country- USA
Region- California
SubRegion- Sonoma County
Appellation- Alexander Valley
Alcohol 15.4%



The Big Wooden Guy's first impression of this wine has to do with the weight of the bottle. It weighs a ton. Well, actually, it weighs 2 pounds, 3.8 ounces (1.015 kilograms), EMPTY! For comparison, the bottle for 1998 Sociando Mallet weighs 1 pound 4.7 ounces (0.58 kilograms). Add that it was sent to me (for free, a sample, full disclosure here) in Styrofoam packing, and this thing is a carbon footprint nightmare. There is a paper label on the back containing all the legally required information. The front, though, lacks a label. Instead it is simply embossed "ROCKAWAY," with an embossed vineyard running all the way around the bottle. Everything about the bottle says "TAKE ME SERIOUSLY!"

Night One

The color is very deep dark garnet almost all the way to the edge, where it finally gives way to about an 1/8" of bright ruby.

The nose is rich and jammy, filled with dark fruit. It is mostly blackcurrant and plum, with some blackberries and eucalyptus at the back end of a big sniff. After an hour of so open a fleeting glimpse of espresso played hide-and-seek amid the fruit.

This was just as dark on the palate, very jammy and sweet. Blackcurrants and mulberry, along with some meaty smokiness opened the attack. Cedar and vanilla made their first appearance on the mid-palate, which quickly evolved to vanilla and brown sugar on toast. The sugar is cloying, the finish long but too sweet, all brown sugar and maple syrup.

Five hours it changed some. Tannins started to appear as the jammy fruit settled down a bit. There was more blackberry, less mulberry and blackcurrant, with a strong smooth leathery tannin backbone. There was a quick vegetal hint in the mid-palate. The finish, though, is still dominated by vanilla, brown sugar and maple.

Night Two

The nose seems to have settled down quite a lot. There is still plenty of fruit but it is balanced by some earth. There is also some licorice and a bit of mixed eucalyptus and menthol.

The wine settled down a great deal on the palate, too. There are still plenty of big flavors, blackberries and plums, but Night Two brings more nuance and more layers. The attack has blackberries and plums, plus licorice and a little spice. The mid-palate is greatly expanded, bringing unsweetened chocolate, cherries, and toasted almond skins. Tannins are smooth and fine, but pronounced. There is plenty of backbone to this, enough to give a few years, at the least, in the cellar.

This is a great big modern wine, very ripe and fruity, very powerful. It is not really my personal style. I prefer a bit more subtlety. That said, this has the potential to be good after several years in the cellar to settle down and integrate. $80 is a good chunk of change to spend on potential. Unfortunately, that is actually below the going rate for similar California Cabs.

2003 Simi Cabernet Sauvignon Landslide

Type: Red
Producer: Simi
Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon
Vineyard: Landslide
Country: USA
Region: California
SubRegion: Sonoma County
Appellation: Alexander Valley
14.1% alcohol
$26.99 Costco in Indianapolis, Indiana



The Little Wooden Guy is mixed on this one. On one hand, it's pretty much exactly what you would expect from a California Cab, even slightly interesting. On the other hand, at $26 a bottle, why bother?

Night One

Color was surprisingly light for Cabernet, bright ruby but slightly translucent.

The nose was a little hot (no surprise, with more than 14% alcohol. It was also bright and fruity, a mix of black and red fruits, cherries and plums, plus a little vanilla. It differed from most $30 California Cabernets by not having just loads and loads of prototypical blackcurrant.

The palate opens with cherries and blackberries. There is really no mid-palate. Acidity is bright and tannins are soft and leathery, like fine-cut suede. Finish is long.

Night Two

Now, after a night of rest, the nose disappoints, with bloated fruit and extravagant wood. The smell is all cherry pie filling, vanilla and cedar. The palate, too, is big and bloated, with pie filling, pie crust, brown sugar and cedar. There is no mid-palate at all.

This is a very commercial Cabernet, big fruit, big wood, big disappointment. It is a style that appeals to a lot of people (and grocery store buyers). I am just not the target audience.