Ampelos, Gamma The Complex Syrah, Sta. Rita Hills

Jesper Hedegaard smagning

2018 vintage

My last bottle of this wine from Peter's stuck ferment year. A thick sediment remains around the neck after the final pour (that also delivered heavy sediment). Blackberry, rosemary, and still a touch of brown sugar in this 12 year old wine. Good mouthfeel. With cheeses. Recommended.

2007 vintage

14 years in.. still a considerable amount of fruit left! Definitely a California Syrah. Still, the age tempers the fruit to an acceptable level - a nice bouquet of green and black pepper, elderberry and other dark fruit; blackberry and medium tannin on the palate.

2006 vintage

Huge bottle variation between these two bottles. The first is bright and almost too acidic; a touch out of balance. The second is completely balanced, showing greater depth and complexity with cranberry, plum, and tobo (DDB says its cedar). Its appearance remains quite a youthful purple. The second bottle shows brined black olive on the finish that the first bottle never showed. Black pepper eventually comes into focus. Heavy sediment. 14.2% alc. First with the Ampelos Virtual tasting and then …

2007 vintage

dbl entry? don’t know, but this bottle is gone.

2007 vintage

This wine never stops delivering pleasure and never ceases to impress. A youthful purple in the glass appearing more plum thank anything else. The richness of blackberry on the attack followed by plum and brined black olive continue the illusion of a young wine. Those flavors give way to eucalyptus, smoke, sage and black pepper. No sense of any brown sugar. Still throwing sediment. 14.2% alc. With assorted cheeses and crusty bread (a second bottle after tearing through a Texier) …

2007 vintage

We enjoyed this more than the 2010 Syrache, but both were very good. No real notes, but it is much the same as a year ago with eucalyptus, coffee and balckberry. With homemade pizza. Recommended.

2007 vintage

No real notes. Paired with lunch at Table 44 (Paris Baking Co) with beef spare ribs (DDB) and steak frites (me). Paired very well with both, but better with the spare ribs. Big brambly wine with balanced fruit, tannis and acid. Nice wine with very find sediment in both final pours. Sediment all around the neck and then running down the label side (as if it lay face down).

2007 vintage

Looking at the color of this wine you would likely think it is 3 or 4 years old, not 11 years old given the bright plum rim to an almost black olive core. Rich blackberry on the attack with notes of plum turning to brined black olive, smoke, sage and black pepper. The youthfulness of the wine is reflected in the still present brown sugar flavor on the mid-palate. Tremendous sediment. 14.2% alc. With assorted cheeses and crusty bread. Recommended.

2007 vintage

Pretty much unchanged from 2 years ago when I wrote, “The plum colored rim shades to a near black olive core. Plum and blackberry on the attack, but the mid-palate of brined black olive, smoke, eucalyptus and sage take up the banner and run pell-mell across the palate racing to a long finish. Some brown sugar notes still nudge around the edges.” The amount of sediment from this wine continues to amaze. 14.2% alc. With assorted cheeses and a petit …

2007 vintage

If you pair no other food with this wine, be certain to at least pair brined black olives with it. It’s likely to be the best pairing ever. The wine exudes brined black olives. The plum colored rim shades to a near black olive core. Plum and blackberry on the attack, but the mid-palate of brined black olive, smoke, eucalyptus and sage take up the banner and run pell-mell across the palate racing to a long finish. Some brown sugar …

2007 vintage

Great for Sta. Rita Hills Syrah. Dark, generous berry fruit. Touch smokey and some grapey flavors in there too. A definite presence of oak, but well integrated. These guys are more known for their elegant Pinots, but this was a great wine and worth buying.

2012 vintage

Consumed over two nights, dark fruit on the nose, the palate was dark berries, plums and spice. Finish was smooth and of moderate length.

2012 vintage

Drank this sometime in August; probably with pork BBQ just before PMB headed back to school.

2007 vintage

For a syrah wine quite light colour. Very nice nose with blackberries and cherries. Super, fleshy fruit with blackberries and cherries; rounded tannins. Nice balance and a long, straight aftertaste with lots of fruit. Definitely elements from a cool climate syrah with a lot of complexity.

2009 vintage

Expected this to be over the top and lacking subtlety but this was a pleasant surprise. The nose is especially expressive and funky with cedar notes - strangely like old school Bordeaux. It's a bit of a letdown on the palate - typical CA Syrah ripeness is a little monolithic but there's enough acidity to keep it from being a total washout. Not really my style but definitely moving in the right direction!

2006 vintage

The wine is inky ruby with a wonderfully aromatic nose and flavors of blackberry, smoke, vanilla and earth. It has a lengthy, toasty oak and white-pepper-driven finish. While it is delicious now, I predict that it will improve with an additional 2-3 years in the cellar. To the extent the wine has received sub-90 scores, I suspect that it is because it is often compared (unfairly) with the more fruit-forward wines from Paso or the Santa Ynez Valley. While medium-bodied, …

2009 vintage

Very good med body syrah.. def cooler climate syrah with nice spice and woody notes.. a bit of toast actually but very enjoyable!

2009 vintage

Black fruit, pepper, well balanced spice and acidity smokey oak B/B+

2009 vintage

Good with 5 spice duck and sweet potatoes. Drink now - no reason to wait.

2009 vintage

Used more for rissoto than anything else, but a little fell into the cook and her assistant.

2007 vintage

Dark inky ruby color. Soft perfume of cherries and chocolate on the nose. Black cherries, cola, chocolate; and slight hint of bitter dark chocolate, violet flowers and candied fruits; followed by a spicy, peppery finish of medium to long length. Medium to full body with sumptuous tannins. Very well balanced and drinking wonderfully.

2006 vintage

Nice dark color, nose of dark crushed fruit, medium body with fruit and spice on the palate, decent finish.

2009 vintage

This remains a rather young wine from the first pour to the last sip. Its plum-like shading appears almost luminescent in the glass. Its notes of blueberry still make first impressions - for good or ill. Fortunately, primary flavors of plum and raspberry quickly follow before giving way to now emerging eucalyptus and sage flavors. The wine is meaty with a smokiness that longs (or makes you long for) a charred cote du boeuf. Plum is the solitary consistent flavor …

2007 vintage

More of the same with simply too much blueberry for my liking, but with a nice dose of black olive and smoked meat. With assorted blue cheeses and truffled cheese (soccareno de tufalo (sp?).

2007 vintage

A young but very attractive plum color. More blueberry than I like in my Syrah, but not at all a blueberry cream shake. No one would mistake this for an Aussie wine. Other flavors of plum, raspberry, tobo smoke, lavender and herbs. The plum note lasts from the attack to the finish. Nothing earthshaking here, but it’s an unabashed California Syrah. A full bodied wine. With loads of this in the cellar, it will be interesting to see how this …

2007 vintage

Dark chocolate, bramble berry, white paper. Good and ready to go.

2006 vintage

Excellent Cali Syrah, this one did not feel over the top from a fruit/alc. perspective and it was quite elegant and balanced, still struggling to understand why this varietal struggles in Cali and it is quite unique and attractive when put against it's Aussie Shiraz 'cousins' (albeit the good examples are more pricey) - Black, full bodied with a nose of blueberry, plum, cherry, pepper and vanilla, good structure, decent tannins and acidity, well balanced, sweet, silky smooth on the …

2006 vintage

A very young purple plum shade. Flavors zig and zag between smoke, plum, blueberry, raspberry, tobo and herbs provance. Not a blousey wine and not a full throttle Cali wine, but restrained with just enough under the surface to let you know more is lurking. 14.2% alc. With purchased stuffed chicken breasts (stuffed with mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, ricotta) over a red tomato sauce. Not a best of matches. The wine was just too much for the dish. Recommended.

2007 vintage

Really some very nice fruit and spice in this wine, but it seemed a bit disjointed right now and some heat on the finish as well. This probably needs to rest for a couple of years.

2006 vintage

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Ampelos, Gamma The Complex Syrah, Sta. Rita Hills

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