2021 Quigley Family Wines Syrah, Alder Springs Vineyard, Mendocino County
Tasting Notes
Situated at 2,500 feet of elevation in decomposing sandstone, our terraced block at Alder Springs is planted to multiple clones of Syrah looking out over forested groves and streams near the northern terminus of the Mendocino County. The grapes were harvested on September 19th, 2021, and then underwent a natural fermentation on whole clusters with a small percentage of Viognier for an aromatic lift. The wine was pressed to third use and neutral French oak for 18 months of barrel age. Our Syrah shows black plum, bittersweet chocolate, black olive, and violets.
Specs
Alcohol: 13.1%
4 Barrels produced (98 cases)
What’s Included
3-bottles:
3x 2021 Quigley Family Wines Syrah, Alder Springs Vineyard, Mendocino County Case:
12x 2021 Quigley Family Wines Syrah, Alder Springs Vineyard, Mendocino County
Our goal each year is to produce singular wines of aromatic purity, texture, and freshness. With a nod towards the Old World, we achieve this through the inclusion of stems in our red fermentations, little new oak, and native yeast fermentations when the season allows. Any dogma around our winemaking is thrown out the window apart from a light hand with sulphur additions. This philosophy allows each vineyard to become the centerpiece of the finished wine. Our hope is that you find our wines not only vibrant young but worthy of age.
The family team consists of brothers, Patrick and Jack, along with their father, Jim. Patrick is the family winemaker. Jack and Jim are avid wine enthusiasts (read: wine drinkers), and share Patrick’s passion for creating an approachable California wine label. Patrick’s journey into winemaking began at Washington State University with a degree in Viticulture and Enology, but his greatest lessons were learned after transplanting to the vineyards of Napa Valley. Pruning, pulling trellis wires, planting vineyards, and learning the irreplaceable lesson that there is no shortcut to quality. One needs to work from the ground up to get the most out of their vineyards and the wines they produce. A winemaker needs their hands in the soil, and their boots in the cellar. Time spent abroad in New Zealand, Argentina, and South Africa, along with experience under Philippe Melka in California, taught him that a low-input approach in the cellar will yield the greatest amount of complexity in the bottle.
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations.)
2021 Quigley Family Wines Syrah - $60 = 24.99%
I got this lovely bottle in and was looking forward to trying the Syrah. On the pour, it has a very dark garnet color. It was almost opaque with how deep red it was.
On the nose I got leather, plums, maybe some cherries. There was something bitter that I couldn’t identify with just a hint of alcohol. (I see now in the description it is olives and bitter chocolate.
When I took my first sip I definitely got leather, cherry, and plums. The wine was not overly fruity sweet which sometimes happens with Syrah, nor was it full-bodied and in your face. It had a nice mouthfeel with a clean, dry finish.
I really enjoyed this first small glass. It was easy drinking and had a pleasant finish. I could see opening a bottle and sipping it all night with friends. (Or myself with a good book).
For dinner I had planned grilled ribeye with brussels & sweet potato. I wouldn’t say it was a perfect pairing, but it was very decent. It cut through the sweet of the potato and still stood up to the bitterness of the brussels and the umami of the steak. I ended up finishing the bottle over the course of the night relaxing with my family and other than getting a slightly drier mouthfeel after a couple hours I didn’t detect any noticeable changes.
@firstgeer just an FYI - your ‘bitter’ is not necessarily what ‘the notes’ state that they are . Winemaker notes are simply one person’s idea of what a wine smells or tastes like. Don’t assume you will find the same things . . .
@tercerowines I definitely agree…I just couldn’t match the bitter notes I was getting to anything at the time I was tastung. The olives and bitter chocolate flavors just mostly synced with what I was getting after I read them.
@firstgeer but to me that’s ’leading the witness’. We can convince ourselves of any smells or flavors because the power of suggestion is so strong. This why I don’t have ‘tasting notes’ on my wines . . .
Thanks Alice and the team for the opportunity to rat again.
Received on a Wednesday and opened Thursday.
Pop and pour, dark garnet, basically opaque. Not much on the nose, perhaps some crushed red fruit, pepper, and a baking spice that neither my wife or I could exactly identify, but perhaps cloves felt the closest. The nose was fairly closed off but definitely opened with time.
The entry was very fruit forward, but without a lot of definition. Dried cranberries, cherry, perhaps some plum, but more dominantly red fruit vs blue fruit. The black pepper comes and goes, the tannins are mouth drying, and the finish is medium to long. Regarding the finish it felt very harsh and challenging for me to put a finger on.
Day 2 is much of the same after leaving lightly closed with a pour spout. Day 3 its starting to turn a bit acidic and the harsh aftertaste continues.
I very rarely don’t finish a bottle but I couldn’t get past the harsh finish on this one.
I would have put this at a $10 CM price.
Perhaps I had a bad bottle, but I just couldn’t get excited about this one.
Ahhh—the buying conundrum presented by two contrasting bottles. I’d appreciate learning a little about the rats’ preferred wine profiles. I note that QFW is a small-quantity wine crafter. From my online search results, it has experience gained from producing a number of Alder Springs Vineyard-sourced Syrahs over the years. And, I have the sense that the wine on offer is young…and benefits from breathing/cellaring. Any chance someone from the vintner is up for CM-buyer persuasion?!?
@takethefarm In a syrah i would generally gravitate to the two opposite ends of the spectrums : bold, more extracted ones, ala Zeppelin, or more old style rhone versions. Mass produced syrahs that are fruit forward and easy pleasing but have no discernible character I try to avoid where I can.
This bottle squarely fits in the latter category for me, which isnt a bad thing necessarily, but given the bitter finish I just couldn’t get behind it.
At this price point, it is a pass for me.
I could have had an off bottle or it may have been shocked on the transport to Texas but I didnt notice anything else that would have indicated that.
Edit: I should add with very extended time in glass the bitter profile diminished, so yes, substantial cellaring could help that characteristic.
I appreciate the divergent reviews. When it comes to a Syrah, or a Pinot bottle, the rattage hasta be great, across-the-board, because we are giving up in some cases double the space for one bottle in our shrinking wine refrigerators. I had to pull out Sun goddess Syrah and avivo Sangiovese out of my wine fridge to make room for that recent Pinot. Not as much fun being selective
Welllll what ya know? A blog post from Alder Yarrow, vinography.com… hold it now, wait…someone named Alder reviewing a wine from Alder vineyard? Now that has to be a conflict of interest, right? ha!.. on to the obviously biased note:
Dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of wet iron, bloody meat, flowers, and blackberry fruit. In the mouth, iodine and wet earth mix with barely salty grilled meat and dark berry flavors. Thick, muscular tannins wrap around the palate, slightly drying the mouth. Decent acidity. This wine needs some more time and will appeal to those who don’t like their Syrahs to be fruity. 13.1% alcohol. 100 cases made. Score: around 8.5
5/4/24
2021 Quigley Family Wines Syrah, Alder Springs Vineyard, Mendocino County
Tasting Notes
Specs
What’s Included
3-bottles:
Case:
Price Comparison
$540.00/Case for 12x 2021 Quigley Family Wines Syrah, Alder Springs Vineyard, Mendocino County at Quigley Family Wines
About The Winery
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Monday, Jul 15 - Wednesday, Jul 17
2021 Quigley Family Wines Syrah
3 bottles for $59.99 $20/bottle + $2.67/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $179.99 $15/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations.)
2021 Quigley Family Wines Syrah - $60 = 24.99%
Thanks to Alice for the chance to Rat again!
I got this lovely bottle in and was looking forward to trying the Syrah. On the pour, it has a very dark garnet color. It was almost opaque with how deep red it was.
On the nose I got leather, plums, maybe some cherries. There was something bitter that I couldn’t identify with just a hint of alcohol. (I see now in the description it is olives and bitter chocolate.
When I took my first sip I definitely got leather, cherry, and plums. The wine was not overly fruity sweet which sometimes happens with Syrah, nor was it full-bodied and in your face. It had a nice mouthfeel with a clean, dry finish.
I really enjoyed this first small glass. It was easy drinking and had a pleasant finish. I could see opening a bottle and sipping it all night with friends. (Or myself with a good book).
For dinner I had planned grilled ribeye with brussels & sweet potato. I wouldn’t say it was a perfect pairing, but it was very decent. It cut through the sweet of the potato and still stood up to the bitterness of the brussels and the umami of the steak. I ended up finishing the bottle over the course of the night relaxing with my family and other than getting a slightly drier mouthfeel after a couple hours I didn’t detect any noticeable changes.
@firstgeer just an FYI - your ‘bitter’ is not necessarily what ‘the notes’ state that they are
. Winemaker notes are simply one person’s idea of what a wine smells or tastes like. Don’t assume you will find the same things . . .
@tercerowines I definitely agree…I just couldn’t match the bitter notes I was getting to anything at the time I was tastung. The olives and bitter chocolate flavors just mostly synced with what I was getting after I read them.
@firstgeer but to me that’s ’leading the witness’. We can convince ourselves of any smells or flavors because the power of suggestion is so strong. This why I don’t have ‘tasting notes’ on my wines . . .
Thanks Alice and the team for the opportunity to rat again.
Received on a Wednesday and opened Thursday.
Pop and pour, dark garnet, basically opaque. Not much on the nose, perhaps some crushed red fruit, pepper, and a baking spice that neither my wife or I could exactly identify, but perhaps cloves felt the closest. The nose was fairly closed off but definitely opened with time.
The entry was very fruit forward, but without a lot of definition. Dried cranberries, cherry, perhaps some plum, but more dominantly red fruit vs blue fruit. The black pepper comes and goes, the tannins are mouth drying, and the finish is medium to long. Regarding the finish it felt very harsh and challenging for me to put a finger on.
Day 2 is much of the same after leaving lightly closed with a pour spout. Day 3 its starting to turn a bit acidic and the harsh aftertaste continues.
I very rarely don’t finish a bottle but I couldn’t get past the harsh finish on this one.
I would have put this at a $10 CM price.
Perhaps I had a bad bottle, but I just couldn’t get excited about this one.
Ahhh—the buying conundrum presented by two contrasting bottles. I’d appreciate learning a little about the rats’ preferred wine profiles. I note that QFW is a small-quantity wine crafter. From my online search results, it has experience gained from producing a number of Alder Springs Vineyard-sourced Syrahs over the years. And, I have the sense that the wine on offer is young…and benefits from breathing/cellaring. Any chance someone from the vintner is up for CM-buyer persuasion?!?
@takethefarm In a syrah i would generally gravitate to the two opposite ends of the spectrums : bold, more extracted ones, ala Zeppelin, or more old style rhone versions. Mass produced syrahs that are fruit forward and easy pleasing but have no discernible character I try to avoid where I can.
This bottle squarely fits in the latter category for me, which isnt a bad thing necessarily, but given the bitter finish I just couldn’t get behind it.
At this price point, it is a pass for me.
I could have had an off bottle or it may have been shocked on the transport to Texas but I didnt notice anything else that would have indicated that.
Edit: I should add with very extended time in glass the bitter profile diminished, so yes, substantial cellaring could help that characteristic.
I appreciate the divergent reviews. When it comes to a Syrah, or a Pinot bottle, the rattage hasta be great, across-the-board, because we are giving up in some cases double the space for one bottle in our shrinking wine refrigerators. I had to pull out Sun goddess Syrah and avivo Sangiovese out of my wine fridge to make room for that recent Pinot. Not as much fun being selective
Welllll what ya know? A blog post from Alder Yarrow, vinography.com… hold it now, wait…someone named Alder reviewing a wine from Alder vineyard? Now that has to be a conflict of interest, right? ha!.. on to the obviously biased note:
Dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of wet iron, bloody meat, flowers, and blackberry fruit. In the mouth, iodine and wet earth mix with barely salty grilled meat and dark berry flavors. Thick, muscular tannins wrap around the palate, slightly drying the mouth. Decent acidity. This wine needs some more time and will appeal to those who don’t like their Syrahs to be fruity. 13.1% alcohol. 100 cases made. Score: around 8.5
5/4/24
fwiw
Wet iron and bloody meat doesn’t make me want some. And what does iodine taste like?
@marjoryk Those are in fact classic northern Rhone Syrah descriptors… fwiw
@kaolis ooo ok then wdik
@marjoryk I bet you know plenty…and bloody meat right up my grilling alley so that one I’m very familiar with…