Plumpjack Syrah 2007

Heyyo! What an awesome wine I've got for you for this post! After the last wine review, I caught syrah fever, and luckily I had the great fortune to try out a pretty special one, the 2007 Napa Valley Plumpjack Syrah. Boy oh boy fellas, what a wine.

In color the wine showed some excellent depth and purity. It was pitch black as night with possibly the darkest shade of violet that I've ever seen tinting the edges. Absolutely zero sunlight got through the wine in my glass. What got me especially excited about the wine in the glass was its fast appearing legs. I'm not sure entirely, but I'm assuming that they formed quickly after the swirl because the wine was so heavy and full bodied. Those legs by the way, were thin and bendy- just the way I like them! (No sexual pun/innuendo intended.) I'll score the in-glass appearance of this wine a killer 94/100.

On the nose this wine did far beyond impress me. At the very first whiff I got a flurry of dark fruits, black currant berries and black cherries especially. There was also a spice in that initial hit of the nose, with a "peperoncino" type flavor and zest. I also got some juicy, straight-up chocolate notes along with some dark nut, mulchy (not a real word, by the way,) oak. What a deadly combination of scents. I wish I could drink this wine with my nose, but I know better than to try that again. I score the nose on this wine a 92.

On to the flavor! What I've got to stress in the flavor of this wine is the heavy spice and the wine's big, big body. Initially, there was a greenish dimension taking over, with a bitter tone until the spice kicked in. That green flavor was accompanied with a chocolate covered clove that totally took me by surprise. The spice lasted well throughout until the end of the finish, with an arousing spiced black currant berry flavor. The wine also exhibited a pleasant dryness with an awesome lush and fatty mouthfeel. I give this big daddy of a wine a 90 in the flavor department.

Overall, I'd say this is a 91, maybe 92 point wine. Is that good? You bet it is. It's getting to the point where I can really tell when a wine is special, and this one truly is. I'm starting to be able to notice the dark fruit and chocolate characteristics of the syrah grape, and I can totally see how this particular wine blows those aspects out of the park. As usual everybody, thanks for reading, and look forward to another post coming as soon as Saturday or Sunday night!