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