2013 Piedrasassi, Syrah, PS, Central Coast.
One of California’s best kept secrets, the Sashi Moorman PS Syrah is a lovely and groovy wine with nervy whole cluster/stemmy character and beautiful opaque blue/purple/black hues in the glass. The 2013 is an opulent and riveting version that really reminds me of Auguste Clape’s baby Cornas, the Le Vin des Amis, this is thrilling stuff, especially for the price, and while never easy to find, at 480 cases made it should not be impossible to source some, oh and yeah, you really, really should get as much as you can, in case you didn’t catch my drift! Sasha makes the Stolpman wines, and consults for Raj Parr’s Sandhi and is the director of winemaking at Evening Land/Seven Springs Vineyard in Oregon, he certainly is in the top echelon of modern winemakers, his style is not shy, but the wines are always balanced, poised and show a purity of fruit. The 2013 PS shows a deft touch, managing the stem inclusion to perfection and allowing the inner beauty of the grapes to shine, there’s pretty floral tones, spice, mineral, earthiness and deep dark layers of fruit starting with a heady mix of violets, pepper, burnt embers, creme de cassis and dried celery along with blueberry, boysenberry and damson plum fruit that forms of core around which the rest adds background complexity. There is hints of lavender, anise, chalky stones, espresso, a touch of cedar and black olives that come through as well and the finish is good and has nice length, this is stylish stuff with enough edge to keep things interesting, the balance and focus are ever present with mild ripe tannins and a subtle energy from the acidity and at 14.1% this is a medium to full bodied red that impresses and pleases, drink from 2015 to 2021, look for bit more aromatic enhancement and depth to come through with another 6 months to a year in bottle, but it is hard to resist now!
($22 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive
