Ty Martin, from Cepage Selections blind tasted me on this Kermit Lynch wine.
There's a disconnect between the customer and wine server in that, neither of us know each others' palate. There are a few tricks I use on a day to day basis to gather information without seeming like a butt hole:
Are you interested in a red or white wine?
For Red: Would you like a light, medium or full-bodied red wine
2nd Level Red: Are you looking for a wine with more fruit or more earthiness?
For White: Are you looking for a dry or sweet wine
2nd Level White: are you looking for a wine with a fruity presence and a bigger style or one with more delicacy and zesty-ness?
This way, we get to the bottom of that person's desires without saying directly "new world, old world, fruit forward" or "oakey" which can offend. If there's one thing that I would like to see more from other sommeliers is an acceptance that no matter how fruity a particular wine from Vacqueyras or Chinon is, it's still going to be a earth-bomb.
Ty Martin stopped by while I was having this epiphany and poured a mystery wine into my glass. Looking at it's color I couldn't help but think one thing... SYRAH! But instead of jumping to conclusions, doing a proper analysis makes a much stronger argument:
Mystery Wine:
APPEARANCE:
Clarity: hazy/murky
Brightness: Dull / Opaque
Intensity: Lots of extracted color, High-intensity
Color: Deep Purple/Violet to light pink meniscus, low rim variation indicating a younger wine
Viscosity: Medium, estimated 13.5% 14% alcohol
NOSE:
Condition: Sound and clean
Intensity: Medium plus, lots of big things happening in the aroma
Aroma/Bouquet: Young smells of fruit, not any bottle aged, yeast bouquets
Fruit: Black cherries, black olives, slight raisin
Earth: Yes, revealing gravel
Wood: Yes, slight spice characteristics including clove, but not overly so, perhaps a blend of used oak
Other Aromas: a herbal nose with oregano, tarragon and slight notes of gardenia flowers
PALATE:
Sweetness Level & Body: Dry with a Full Body
Fruit: Olives, Cranberries, Cherries, Sour Plums
Wood: a light spice layer makes me think it's with used French Oak
Other: herbal notes of tarragon
Tannins: Medium Plus, dryness on the roof of my mouth, with a gravelly feel
Alcohol: Medium, possibly 13.5% or lower
Acidity: Medium, moderate acidity
Complexity: Interesting palate that evolves from an initial sweetness to sourness and tannin character, medium-plus complexity
Finish: acidity clears finish, raisin characteristics remain, medium length finish
INITIAL CONCLUSION:
Old World wine, from a cool to moderate climate, probably syrah or mostly syrah about 2-5 years of age
FINAL CONCLUSION:
Because of the olive aromas and color, I really think it's a Northern Rhone unfiltered/naturally produced Syrah from the 2007 vintage. I also would guess it's retail at around $45.
Wine: 2006 Domaine Faury St. Joseph Red Wine (Northern Rhone Syrah!) Retail for $27 at Kermit Lynch.
I would pair this wine with a braised portobello mushrooms and roasted potatoes with tarragon and a mint compote. a side of crispy kale would be a nice way to compliment the herbal characteristics. The mint would bring out the fruitiness in the wine and the portobellos to accentuate the body.
