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by Tom Hill

A self-admitted wine geek, Tom lives in Northern New Mexico and works as a computational physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory doing numerical neutron transport & large scale code development. He has been tasting wines since 1971, participates locally with a couple of large tasting groups in his area, and is practically a fixture at most California wine festivals, such as the Hospice du Rhône, Rhône Rangers, and ZAP. Other interests: Tom is heavily into competitive sport fencing (foil & epee), biking, cooking, basketball, skiing, backpacking, mountain climbing.

Some Dehlinger Syrahs - May 22, 2013

We tasted last night (5/22/13) Some Dehlinger Syrahs:

  1. DryCreekVnyd PetiteSirahSpencer'sHillVnyd/Estate/DryCreekVlly/SonomaCnty (13.9%) 2010: Verydark/black color; strong musty/TCA/corked slight boysenberry/PSslight vanilla/oak nose; soft
    bit tangy/grapefruity slight boysenberry/PS rather musty/corked/TCAflavor; some really interesting things in there under all the TCA; will get another btl to try. $nc (BS)/$34.00
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  2. Dehlinger PetiteSirah GuadagniBrosVnyd/DCV (15.9%) 2010: Very dark/black color; slight
    alcoholic huge fruit/boysenberry/black berry/plummy/black cherry cola/DrPepper light toasty/oak slight peppery/earthy nose; soft very rich/lush intense fruit/boysenberry/blackberry/PS slightly alcoholic slight toasty/oak flavor w/ fierce tannins; very long huge/intense fruit/boysenberry/ PS/blackberry light toasty/oak slight earthy/peppery finish w/ huge/soft tannins; a big/huge almost porky PS w/ pretty fierce tannins; needs some 6-10 yrs of age; much in the style of the Biale PS's. $43.20 (vBS)
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  3. Dehlinger Syrah RRV (EB; 14.9%) 2006: Dark color; strong blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry bit funky/
    mushroomy rather charred/burnt/oak slight ozone/pungent/licorice nose; bit tannic/hard rather charred/
    burnt/oak/pungent slome blackberry/black cherry/Syrah slight funky/mushroomy flavor; med.long strong
    charred/oak/burnt/pungent some blackberry/black cherry/Syrah slight funky finish w/ some hard tannins;
    quite interesting Syrah but seems to be drying out a bit. $43.50 (vBS)
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  4. Dehlinger Syrah EastFace/RRV (EB; 15.2%) 2006: Very dark color; very strong blackberry/black cherry/Syrah/plummy bit alcoholic light pencilly/toasty/oak rather low-key/shy nose; bit soft slight tannic/
    hard low-key/blackberry/black cherry/Syrah almost Pinotish light toasty/oak flavor long slight earthy/
    mushroomy some blackberry/black cherry/Syrah slight tannic/bitey finish; a rather low-key/elegant
    rendition of a Syrah made by a Pinot producer. $52.50 (vBS)
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  5. Dehlinger Syrah RRV (EB; 14.9%) 2007: Dark color; very attractive blackberry/black cherry/Syrah slight licorice/pungent/mushroomy light toasty/oak nose; bit tart slight tannic/hard quiet blackberry/black
    cherry/Syrah slight licorice/pungent/earthy/mushroomy bit toasty/charred/oak flavor; med.long bit tannic/
    hard some quiet blackberry/black cherry/Syrah licorice/pungent/mushroomy finish; quite attractive rather
    quiet/low-key Syrah that needs some age yet. $42.50 (vBS)
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  6. Dehlinger Syrah GoldRidgeVnyd/RRV (EB; 14.6%) 2007: Dark color; fairly strong blackberry/black cherry/Syrah slight alcoholic some licorice/smokey/roasted/pungent light toasty/oak nose; softer more balanced strong blackberry/black cherry/Syrah light licorice/smokey/roasted light toasty/oak some complex flavor w/ light/smooth tannins; med.long soft/balanced strong blackberry/black cherry/Syrah light licorice/ roasted bit complex/Pinotish finish w/ soft/smooth/silky tannins; my easy favorite of the younger Syrahs. $34.50 (vBS)
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  7. Dehlinger Syrah GoldridgeVnyd/RRV (EB; 14.9%) 2008: Dark color; strong blackberry/black cherry/ Syrah rather lush fruit slight licorice/pungent light toasty/oak quite attractive nose; soft strong blackberry/ black cherry/Syrah quite lush/ripe fruit light toasty/oak flavor w/soft/smooth/graceful tannins; long soft lush fruit/blackberry/black cherry/Syrah light toasty/oak finish w/ light/smooth tannins; a quite drinkable/ balanced attractive Syrah w/o the structure of the earlier ones. $33.50 (vBS)
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  8. Dehlinger Syrah Goldridge/RRV (EB; 14.9%) 2009: Dark color; bit more pungent/smokey/licorice more toasty/ oak rather low-key/blackberry/Syrah slight herbal/piney/spicy attractive nose; soft rather lush/low-key/blackberry/Syrah light toasty/oak flavor w/ light tannins; long soft/lush lowkey/ blackberry/Syrah slight herbal/piney light toasty/oak finish w/ light/soft tannins; rather approachable/drinkable and not the structure of previous ones. $38.70 (vBS)
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  9. Dehlinger Syrah Goldridge/RRV (EB; 14.9%) 2010: Very dark color; lush/ripe strong blackberry/black
    cherry/Syrah slight licorice light toasty/oak bit simple nose; soft attractive strong blackberry/Syrah light toasty/oak slight licorice/pungent bit simple flavor w/light/smooth/silky tannins; med. long strong blackberry/Syrah/lush light toasty/oak balanced bit simple finish w/ light tannins; an attractive/ drinkable Syrah a bit on the simple side and not as structured. $36.00 (vBS)
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  10. Dehlinger Syrah FreiRd/RRV (15.4%; TonyZio/Martinelli vnyd) 2009: Very dark color; rather low-key/quiet mostly very ripe/boysenberry/Syrah little toasty/oak almost Paso-like/very ripe nose; very soft/fat lush/very ripe/boysenberry/Syrah little oak bit alcoholic almost clumsey/oafish flavor w/ little
    tannins or structure; long very ripe/boysenberry/Syrah/licorice/plummy very slight toasty/oak soft/fat/
    ripe finish w/ little tannins; very un-Dehlinger Syrah and more like very ripe Paso Syrah; rather soft/
    fat/overripe and lacking in structure; doubtful potential. $43.20 (vBS)
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  11. Dehlinger Syrah EastFace/RRV (EB; 15.2%) 2005: Dark color w/ no bricking; lovely blackberry/ peppery/ Syrah/black cherry bit smokey/ozone/pungent/coffee slight roasted/Rhonish rather complex nose; soft/smooth/texturedslight lean/tangy strong blackberry/Syrah/peppery/spicy some roasted/ Rhonish/smokey/coffee flavor w/ smooth/graceful tannins; very long/lingering strong blackberry/ black cherry/Syrah slight pungent/ozone bit roasted/coffee/Rhonish/peppery light toasty/oak finish w/long/ smooth/fine-grained tannins; very good complexity and a bit like an old EdStJohn Durell Syrah; a beautiful Syrah and my favorite of all the Dehlingers. $52.00 (vBS)
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  12. Dehlinger Syrah GoldridgeVnyd/RRV (EB; 14.6%) 2004: Dark color w/slight bricking; very light blackberry/ Syrah some funky/mushroomy/earthy some charred/burnt/toasty/oak slight aged/complex bit strange/funky/atypical nose; rather funky/wet dog fur/mushroomy/earthy slightpeppery/Syrah/ blackberry light charred/burnt/oak slightly tired flavor w/ light tannins; med.long bit funky/earthy/ mushroomy/wet dog fur light blackberry/Syrah/peppery light charred/toasty/oak finish w/ very light/bitey tannins; rather atypical of Dehlinger Syrah and seems to be falling apart. $46.00 (vBS)
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  13. Dehlinger Syrah RRV (EB; 14.2%) 1999: Med.dark color w/ slight bricking; strong toasty/oak strong
    blackberry/Syrah/black cherry slight shoe polish/Shinola rather complex nose; light blackberry/black
    cherry/Syrah some toasty/oak/smokey rather hard/tannic bit dried out some complex flavor; med.long
    rather hard/tannic/dried out some blackberry/Syrah/black cherry rather toasty/oak finish; pretty
    classic Dehlinger Syrah but drying out on the palate and not developed into anything dramatic.

And the usual stuff from the BloodyPulpit:

1. PS: This is, I believe, Dehlinger's first stab at PS. I was expecting, like their Syrahs, to find a PS tasting like it was made by a Pinot producer. Not so...out & out in-your-face PS and not a Dehlinger style of wine. It will interesting to see where this wine goes.
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2. Dehlinger: One of the charter members in my group, BlairSwartz, has been on the Dehlinger mailing list from the very start. I have always liked TomDehlinger's Pinots....very well made and fairly priced. Actually, his Cabs are also amazingly good as well. I was, of course, excited when he started growing/making Syrah as well, some yrs ago. Followed 'em from the very start, I did. The Dehlinger Syrahs are very/very consistent in style. Lots of ripe/blackberry/black cherry/Syrahfruit and the usual Dehlinger toasty/oak. The earlier ones (pre-2008) seemed a bit more structured &
tannic. The 2008 seemed to mark a tweaking of the Dehlinger style to a more approachable/ drinkable kind of Syrah and simpler/less interesting than the earlier ones. Their balance suggests that they should still mature into lovely Syrahs.

TomHill

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