Cain Vineyard & Winery Syrah

This is a really intriguing wine, at the same time restrained (not like some of its wild Cornas counsins) and expressive, full of beautiful fruit and spicyness. A little brett on day 1 was gone after an overnight rest. There's definitely a consistency of style here with Chris Howell's other work e.g. Cain Five; personally, I'm fan of this style that I would call 'old world technique / new world expression'.

Nose of muted cedar mild cracked pepper and some barnyard. Front palate of pepper, sage and earthy fruit. Finish is long with a smooth dark fruit. This wine was amazing makes me think could easily drink for the next year or two. It was a great wine for a nice cool evening on the deck with the fire pit.

Significant funk on the nose, very much like methane. However the fruit was evident and dark and quite pleasant to drink. Follow up: Left open for 5 days, corked and refrigerated. The funk blew of and this is drinking extremely well. Increasing my rating by 2. Definitely needs a strong decant.

Something not quite right about this bottle ?year. Heavily flavored with Brett and not very Syrah-like.

Corked