SNAFU

The night before last I was sitting with a poetic bottle of syrah that makes me a believer again in the nobleness of this grape. It was bottle #278 of 3100 of 2006 Owen Roe Lady Rosa Syrah. Mr David O’Reilly really has a magic touch and it doesn’t hurt that the fruit for Lady Rosa is one of the most profound terroir vineyards of the North West, Dubrul. Hugh and Kathy Shiels spend so many diligent hours in their vineyard maintaining and improving the land, the terroir, the fruit, that high kudos has to go to them. That being said, how magical is it when you open a new world bottle of syrah and your senses are hit with wild game aromas, dark freshly ground coffee with just a dash of bitter Mexican chocolate, grilled bacon, and then the fruit. David is a master of blending vineyard and primary expressions. It’s the balance of letting the land, the terroir speak, at the same time giving us a nearly hedonistic wine that screams to be drunk. The sad but true part of the story is that on day two (I was saving the bottle to appreciate its amelioration over several days) I found that the remaining juice in the bottle had been used in a meat and pasta dish that my wife made! Suffice it to say the sauce was dramatically good, I was just wishing the whole time for another sip while we twirled spaghetti.