“Killing it” with 2004 MonteMaggiore Paolo’s Vineyard Syrah

2004 MonteMaggiore Paolo’s Vineyard Syrah

About this time last year I visited and wrote about MonteMaggiore Vineyards in the Dry Creek Valley of Sonoma County. When I have wines from California (or elsewhere) that I know I can’t get easily, it makes it hard to drink it. Well, I had two wines left from MonteMaggiore, one being their 2004 Paolo’s Vineyard Syrah, which I opened last night.

After I pulled the cork I noticed a good 1/8^th of an inch of sediment on the end of it, so I made sure to run it through the little mesh screen as it went into the decanter.

Check out the details:

Varietal Blend: 95% Syrah, 5% Cabernet

Appellation: Dry Creek Valley

Average Sugar at Harvest: 27.0° Brix

Alcohol: 4.7%

Cooperage: 70% French, 30% American

Percentage New Oak: 48%

Cases Produced: 400

This wine was just jumping out of the glass, I believe my tweet about it last night was precisely that “the ’04 MonteMaggiore Syrah is killing it!” Well it kept killing it with rich, layered, Syrah goodness leaving me both happy and sad, realizing with each sip I was closer to the end of my last bottle of this wine.

My Tasting Notes:

Nose: blackberry, bacon, black currant

Taste: cassis, black currant, cinnamon, cedar black pepper and “suede”

Mouthfeel: full body, rich, leathery tannins that are starting to settle down, but still going strong

Finish: long

If you have a bottle of this, or can find a bottle, it is drinking great right now and I highly recommend it!

Cheers!