Another Jeff Cohn.  Last night’s was so good and I like North Coast syrah’s so much better than… wait.  Let me re-phrase that.  A lot of North Coast syrahs have that cool-climate edge which make a fair number of them candidates for my palate.  Better?  Ok so let’s start over. Last night’s JC Fess Parker was SOOOOOO good, I decided to twist off a JC Napa just to see if it could be outdone.  Again:  Deep medium ruby with garnet edges.  Steely nose with an alcoholic bite like an awkward pre-teen with too much poorly-applied makeup trying desperately to say something cool to the group.  A certain ripe citrus, blood orange?  A definite wet dock nuance.  And not the plant.  Dock, like, a PIER.  A definite fish-scale wisp over a bed of raw walnut meats.  Entry is decidedly different from last night.  Instant blast of coca-cola glycerin, sharp red fruit and forward tannin.  Just a TEEEEENSY bit more headed toward the pruney dark-side than the Santa Barbara.  But vibrant and acidic and decidedly less polish on the tannins.  I would love to have yesterday’s AL% with today’s tannin.  That would be my dream car.  This one has considerably more whomp but the 15-7 is rearing its ugly head.  Not ugly yet,  Such a tough call.  This one *might* just actually last longer.  Oh well who cares–I’ve got plenty of both!  Shooting from the hip, I like the SB better.  Hey, we could make this a JC-Marathon week.  ♦

24hr Vac-U-Vin edit:  Definite pruneyness in the nose and fruit lacking in the taste.  AL still an issue.  I would not recommend keeping this more than another 2 or three years.