The Desert Wine Guy - 2004 Echo Canyon Estate Syrah

                                                 

2004 Passion Cellars Estate Syrah

   If you are a regular reader to my blog you will remember that my travel partner (my oldest Daughter) and I had taken a 5 hour trip a couple of months ago to a little out of the way place named Jerome which is located in Arizona. Here is the link to the article I did on the city and the wineries (http://desertwineguy.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-desert-wine-guy-wineries-of-jerome.html) located there.  We recently went back and I ended up purchasing 5 wines that I felt stood out from the many I tasted. Today's wine, the 2004 Echo Canyon Estate Syrah is one of those wines. To say that this wine "stood out" or is "good" is an understatement because the wine did much more than "stood out" and was better than a simple "good", as a matter of fact this is great wine and deserves much more attention than it is getting. The trip itself, by the way is worth the drive and the time it took to get there and Passion Cellars (http://passioncellars.com/) is one place you must stop at.  When you get there say hello to Cody and tell him The Desert Wine Guy sent you, I think you will enjoy talking to him.  Passion Cellars also happens to be the only place to get our review wine. Before drinking this wine I suggest you give it about two hours + to open up because if you don't you will taste a very Tart Cherry and that is pretty much all. Do yourself as well as your guests a favor and wait the two hours + and the wine will open to a treasure chest of flavors. Now, sit back and get ready for the review of a simply outstanding wine.
  Let's begin at at the top, Let's first discuss the "pour" of this wine. Before we go any further here is a word of caution.  Do not be fooled because when you first start reading this review you will be thinking that I am describing a poorly made wine because this is what you almost surely will be thinking unless you continue to read on, so please do read on. If you are fooled do don't feel bad, I would have the same thoughts if I was not the one writing this article.  The color on the pour of this Estate Syrah appears a two tone. When you pour the wine, the wine leaves the bottle and it actually appears watery in some aspects and is extremely light in color in the middle. The edges of the pour are a medium blackberry in color but in the middle of the pour it appears a lot lighter and seems almost as if it were diluted. This medium/light (mostly light) issue also persists as the wine rests in the glass. When I first saw these particular worrisome characteristics I thought that I was going to be in for a very quick review and was already thinking about which wine I wanted to open next once I poured this bottle down the drain, which I thought would be very shortly. There is however, a saying about appearances that I am sure you have heard before and it goes like this "appearances can be deceiving". This wine is a perfect example that the saying is accurate. In this case appearances indeed were deceiving as you will see once you move onto the next section of the review.
   The Bouquet of the wine when put to the nose is where I first started thinking that I might have been wrong about this wine. The bouquet is full of so many different aromas, it is actually as a matter of fact a smorgasbord of different aromas. To start with the wine opens to a Dark Cassis that is followed up quickly by a medium Oak, a nice deep Dark Cassis and Oak, I am now starting to really think that maybe the wine might be slightly better than bad but surely never more than just simply an "O.K" wine which is of course, an upgrade from what I had originally thought. Right about now I'm looking at awarding an 84 on The Desert Wine Guy point scale. Hold on a minute i thought, what is this I am detecting on the nose? Is this a Medium Pepper? Yes it is, that is exactly what my nose is being hit with. Then I started beginning to think "nah it's still a weak wine with a pour like that". I continued this part of the tasting and noticed that the wine wasn't done opening up because Cocoa was also now coming through. All this in the Bouquet I thought. What a powerful and surprising development. It is like a Buffet not to the eyes but to the nose. I was beginning to now have the first thoughts that this wine was going to exceed the simple "OK" that I was going to originally elevate it to. I was now at the point where I couldn't wait to taste this wine and find out what, if anything it had up it's sleeve and if it could indeed elevate itself even further?

Echo Canyon

    In the mouth the wine starts off with a bright, tart Cherry mixed with Cranberry. When you initially taste the Tart Cherry flavor it will seem out of place until the Cranberry and Carmel hit you, which is almost immediately.  The Carmel actually tones down the Cherry just enough but not before you notice it is there.  The wine will remain like that until it opens up but no worries it is nothing that time will not more than take care of. Once we allow it the time it deserves to open we will see that there is so much more here. When given the time to develop, the first thing we start to notice is the nice taste of a smooth Carmel appears. The flavor of the wonderful Black Current spice also appears to give the hint that this wine is about to do something great. I think that while a red might normally have Black Current that being mixed with the Cherry and Cranberry does something nice. These flavors of course are just the beginning as you will soon see because if you think the wine is done you are way wrong. In addition are notes of Dark Pepper and some earthy notes thrown in for good measure. Adding the pepper into the mix is a nice twist and in the end you end up with the result we have which is an excellent Syrah. To end the power packed flavors there is the ever so slight (but still there) hint of Tobacco to set this wine over the top. Tannins? You want Tannins also? This is a wine I was going to dump out, what do you want from it, everything? Yes, there are Tannins here also. Like most of the other things I tasted in this wine the Tannins are present and only just to the extent that they make a difference and carry the wine forward even further on the point scale. On top of this there is a Jammy sort of taste that I found very strangely appealing here yet fits quite well. So we have everything sensed in the Bouquet and more, also tasted on the palate. Talk about a great wine huh? There is also a slight bit of acidity as well that you will detect in the mouth but have no fear it is not out of place here and definitely not to the extent of being overpowering or overdone in any way. The peppery tones in here are actually what I think helps set this wine off and in combination with everything else, sets this wine over the top in my book. Just when you think the wine has offered you all that it has to offer here comes the slight but definitely noticeable touch of Dark Cocoa which combines in the mix. You now know what this wine is all about and that is greatness.
   All right now lets sum all this up. What started off looking like a terrible wine ended up being an excellent wine. There are so many different flavors that amazingly compliment each other for you to enjoy here. Do allow a couple of hours to Decant though if you really want to appreciate this wine. I recommend that this red be very SLIGHTLY chilled before being served with the ribs  Lamb stew or even a spicy Fajitas you must have to go with it. One other note here. The wine is slightly high in the Alcohol content at 14.8% and believe it or not a did get a slight "buzz" towards the end of the bottle which never usually happens. This wine is put together so beautifully, it is simply a delight to drink. Be forewarned however, the wine is also NOT for the faint of heart, this is definitely a Syrah in every sense of the word.

   On The Desert Wine Guy rating scale I give it  93 points


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