TNR: 2006 Shane "The Unknown" - www.VinoCellar.com - Wine Forums - THE Wine Forum - On VinoCellar.com - 100% Wine Related Discussions - No Exceptions - Tasting Note Requests

Home

Help

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

You are here : Wine Forums

VinoCellar.com Wine Forums

TNR: 2006 Shane "The Unknown"

Last Post 10-20-2008 07:08 PM byVine. 3 Replies.

Sort:

	Prev Next
You are not authorized to post a reply.

Author

Messages

Drew

Sammamish, WA
Avatar

Wine Bottler

Posts: 3411

10-20-2008 06:32 PM
So, I've had this bottle twice now. I don't drink a lot of syrah, hence the question. Both bottles were very meaty with smoke/spice upfront (I swear I got anise/black licorice in the most recent), but after a good 90 minutes of air, the meat/spice blew off and it was all about blackberry/welch's grapes, etc. with a full body, but relatively simple. I've left the Valenti and Jemrose alone, so no other notes to compare against. Is this a typical experience for syrah, is it just Shane's stuff, am I completely in left field? Am I comitting infanticide by drinking it too early? Feel free to blast away.

TimLinCA

Danville CA
Grape Puncher

Posts: 831

10-20-2008 07:01 PM
You're not off base by any means. I popped one back in June 2008 because I was curious. Infanticide? Kind of, but I like 'em young. That being said, I will be holding my other bottles for at least a year after trying this. What I found was very strong drying tannins and a high acid level. Searing white pepper with lots of dark fruit with a little of the meaty thing going for it. There was a bit of that stemmyness from the whole cluster fermentation style that KB and Ed K. are fond of. I'm growing more fond of it every time I have one of each of their syrahs. As far as the complexity blowing off and being left with what sounds like a quaffable grapey drink, that didn't happen to me. I just got harsher tannins as the time passed. The spice fruit balance remained more or less constant. Tim p.s. FWIW, Wine Spectator has pegged this bottle as a Drink now through 2011. (!?)

Vine

Milwaukee, WI
Avatar

Barrel Filler

Posts: 1162

10-20-2008 07:05 PM
I've only tasted the Valenti. I believe I left it open for about 2 hours, no decant. I recall being impressed with the structure and concentration but really felt that it was closed for business. It definitely had a similar meat/spice (especially spice) character to what you describe and some black fruits. My overall impression was that it was too young and needed at least another 12 months in bottle before opening another. I plan on opening another bottle of Valenti in Spring '09. I went deeper on the Valenti in '06 because of the description in Shane's release letter (I recall that it contained words like "brooding" and "dark," both characteristics I generally appreciate in Syrah).

Vine

Milwaukee, WI
Avatar

Barrel Filler

Posts: 1162

10-20-2008 07:08 PM
Tim, I too read WS review and was surprised at the drink now - 2011 recommended window.....definitely left me shaking my head! The only explanation I can think for this is the possibility that Shane may have provided samples he had aerated for more than 24 hours in advance........I recall that he mentioned doing this for other tastings.

You are not authorized to post a reply.

Active Forums 4.1