2006 Alban Syrah Seymour's Vineyard

Glass-staining ruby. Hugely aromatic bouquet of raspberry, cherry compote, sandalwood and potpourri, with a strong wallop of Asian spices. Broad and sweet on the palate, with fine-grained tannins lending support and zesty minerality adding spine and shape. Very fresh and linear for such a big, densely packed wine. The finish repeats the floral note and lingers endlessly.

The succession of prodigious Syrahs continues with the 2006 Syrah Seymour’s Vineyard (named after John Alban’s father). An infant in terms of development, it exhibits a smoky meatiness along with a forest floor character as well as its siblings’ colossal level of concentration, enormous, multilayered texture, and skyscraper-like mouthfeel. Remarkably, there is no sense of heaviness. Another tour de force in Central Coast Syrah, it should drink well for 30-40 years. (Not yet released) One of the pioneers of world-class Rhone varietal-based wines produced in California’s Central Coast, John Alban had the courage and foresight to plant Viognier, Syrah, Grenache, and more recently, Mourvedre, in a region where no one else believed these grapes would thrive. His wines offer off-the-chart levels of concentration, and many of them are capable of lasting three to four decades. These flavor-filled wines are all made from frightfully low yields, and are now being given extremely long aging in barrel, the top Syrah cuvees spending 36-40 months in barrel. The results are wines that are nearly beyond belief in terms of richness and density. These are true artisanal wines meant for long-term cellaring that should only be purchased by patient connoisseurs who are able to defer their gratification for 8-10 years. Still in barrel, the 2006 Syrahs, which will be bottled after 40 months of aging, are all remarkable wines that flirt with perfection. Tel. (805) 546-0305; Fax (805) 546-9879