Alban "Reva" Syrah 2005 (Edna Valley)

Opaque purple.

Extremely deep nose - blood orange/pepper steak/potato skin/licorice. No heat.

Round and completely creamy in the mouth, with a slight saline character. Juniper/pepper/sweet black fruit flavors remind me immediately of western Australia Shiraz, but I've never had one as concentrated as this. Covers everything in the mouth. Structure is fine and slightly grainy. Not a huge wine in any obvious sense, except concentration.

RFG

Day 3 - Stupidly complex on the nose now - still shows citrus/pepper action, but there's a wilted greens character that gets us back to the northern Rhone. Deep, suave, self-contained. Round with some textural sweetness - crazy killer.
Well-structured without being intrusive. Nice acid-driven tannin cut.
Late aromatic note of pipe tobacco.

$75, 15.7% alcohol listed