Thin transparent ruby fading out to pink with wide clear edges. Latex gloves and red Twizzlers. WTF is this. Either the IPOB people are completely outa control or a Pinot got mis-labelled. This was supposed to be Syrah. McGinley Vineyard Syrah. But yes, I know it is 2014, so clearly someone had some sort of carbonic/gamay/Jura situation in mind when they rammed a Diam into this still-foaming water at an age that would make a Somali bride blush. Fairly rich and dirty bouquet, just fruit-FWD and unsophisticatedly-nuanced.
Why would you do this to a Syrah? And who will drink it? Not typical Americans. Which is funny because the day I braved the TR for just long enough to make a purchase and flee, it was chock-a-block squealing drunk chicks in maxi-dresses. Pretty sure there was at least one bachelorette party. A dude clearly suffering from a day of hurried connoisseurship of the far reaches everyone’s Reserve list queried me concernedly as to why I was purchasing wine and not drinking. I bring this up not to glorify the horrors which are tasting rooms, but to identify the conundrum surrounding WHO exactly is the target audience for this bottle in front of me. This is hipster wine. This is the darling-child of the young-guns of sommdom. This is what you sip while #humblebragging how hard you are studying for your WSET2 after closing at IHOP. I can NOT see Mr. and Mrs. Wine Country Lifestyle drinking this. Unless people are truly starting to turn towards thinner, less ripe wines. I’ll believe it when I see it.
In the mouth, viscous of feel while thin of every flavor. Think: acidic oil. Any fruit you got friendly with in the nose is gone. Bright acids turn into considerable bitterness faster than a pair of Steve Madden boots can say, “Can I revisit the blush?” There’s just no stuffing in this wine. Not even Gamay-stuffing. A large portion of the poor grade will be from that pesky little thing outside-the-box winemakers hate called ‘varietal correctness’. You can’t do this to a Syrah. Do it to Gamay. Do it to Pinot. Hell, do it to Cabfranc.
2014 DREAMCOTE Outlandish Syrah Happy Canyon Santa Barbara 13.6
Stephen McConnell 