After last night, I resolved to search out MOAR Sanda Lucia Highlands Syrah. Well, I found this one, but it is not SLH. Arroyo Seco is supposed to be ‘Chardonnay Area’. Famed for the whites. Probably one of the greatest Chardonnay AVA’s on the planet. So I just COULDN’T pass this up. Syrah grown in the heart of white burgundy?!? ysplz.
Impenetrable ruby with clear edges. Massive alcohol but spice and chocolate cake and hibiscus flower and squished bug piquant-ness. Viscous and thick on the entry, mouth-filling and supple like SYRUP. Nose still heady and still with that whole cake-mix thing. Shockingly concentrated and tannic. Acidity a bit flabby, but the tannin makes up for it in spades. Plenty of fruit to balance this all out in 5 years or more.
2009 SHALE CANYON Syrah Arroyo Seco Monterey Co. 15.2
Stephen McConnell 