Black as night. Impenetrable with decent sediment. No bricking to speak of. Very subdued nose. Not a jam-packed monster in bouquet by any means. A little funky bruised vegetal flows out alongside clean, concentrated fruit that takes a little prodding in the glass. No tertiary to speak of. Everything is bright and fresh. Kinda shocking for a 10YO wine. Already, I’m doing calculations on the alcohol on this thing. I know it HAS to be north of 14, but oh man has it aged well–or I suppose one could argue: It has aged not at all. I don’t think it’s 14-5.

In the mouth, so ridiculously focused. Not an ounce of flab, and no crazy Syrah gesticulations splashing all over the place in playful–or sometimes dark & dreary–Syrah fashion. It’s serious. And it’s subdued. It’s in church. It’s solemn and refined, giving you a wallop of dark grainy cherry before sprinkling shards of mineral all around, which acidicly embed themselves in an air mattress of tertiary which eluded us in the nose. The whole experience is very Hermitage. RRV Syrah has always been one of my favorites (I’m looking at you, Dehlinger), and this one is just flat out NAILS.

2007 DUMOL Syrah Russian River Valley Sonoma County California 14.2

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