Booker, Vertigo 22, Paso Robles

I’ve really fallen off the Booker bandwagon other than Fracture, their wines seem to be a misguided attempt at producing a high quality Rhone varietal. Tasted like a fruity syrupy kids drink, sorry just being blunt.

A huge New World CDP that just explodes in the glass... wow, a killer for those of us who like 'em big!

Same as their regular release but aged 22 months in French oak barrels. 48% Syrah/35% Grenache/17% Mourvedre. Rich and full-throttled wine with blackberry, dark currant, and blueberry fruit. Bold notes of cured meat, dried herbs, violets, espresso, and spice. Layers of flavor here which will only get better over time as it softens but right now still pretty tightly wound. Let this one sit yet for a few more years.

Popped and poured, note of flower pedals, cherries, and hints of dried meat. Great structure but is still wound very tight. Very nice

Another fantastic wine this weekend. Gave it 90min of air, but that wasn’t even enough. Second glass really started singing. Brooding and rich with dark fruit. Wonderful expression of a Paso GSM.

Blend of Syrah 48% Grenache 35% and Mourvedre 17%. Dense, rich and dark, with the Grenache providing an underlying cheeriness.

Halloween, Thanksgiving — a true holiday celebration wine

Decanted an hour. Paired with an evening walk in the neighborhood with the baby and the dog. Could use some time to come together still but the fruit is awesome. Dark and brooding.

Dark red. Lots of fruit. A little sweetnees - a little too much actually. But also good acidity and high tannins. Full-bodied and somewhat persistant.

I think I expected more torque for a extended wine. The body was surprisingly more to the medium side after getting your head blown off by a very fruit-forward, full bodied front. This has red and black roasted fruit. Blackberry and black cherry dominate. Finishes lighter yet rather tannic. Very intricate. Power in the front, finesse in the back. I think the best years of this wine are certainly ahead of it.

My my, this one is tasty. Deep dark brooding fruit that is just a pleasure to taste, still a very young wine so the tannins, though pleasant, not quite integrated. Syrah forward with the backbone of Grenache. Generous fruit and spices. This is going to be something really special in the years to come.

Dark red fruits, blackberry, plum, spices with a good amount of white pepper, violets, great velvety texture, really nice right now.

Very nice wine. Vibrant nose of coffee bean, blackberries, boysenberry and a touch of smoked meat. Full bodied with wonderful texture, this is deep, rich and long, with lots of great fruit intensity. Extremely well layered, this shows quite a lot of complexity for a blend of these varietals, with nice fine tannins and great integration. This is a really nice blend, without the overwhelming smokiness of Syrah by itself or the lack of structure and fruitiness sometimes associated with …

I am fairly new to Booker have yet to be let down. Vertigo might be favorite so far. Just outstanding. Incredible length, full-bodied yet light and creamy with and incredible intensity. Everything just so seamlessly integrated. I bought 3 of all the 22's except the Vertigo -grrrrrr. Unfortunately this was my only one. :(