2001 Scott Harvey Syrah

If I had to pick one wine that has consistently blown away everyone I have served it to in the last year, the Scott Harvey would be the wine. I trotted it out last night along with a couple of other wines and it elicited the usual amazement among friends -- a clamoring for the cork, for the bottle, for a piece of paper to write down the name, anything to not forget this wine. This is a nuvo-syrah, one that tastes like a cross between Zinfandel and Syrah, perhaps nodding towards its origins in the Amador County foothills of California, and its winemaker who produces fantastic wines, including Zinfandels, for Folie a Deux.

Tasting Notes:
This wine is an explosion of different flavors for the nose and the tongue. In the glass it has hints of roses, fuji apples, and rasberries that have all been cooked together in a big pot for hours. Through the body it displays cranberries modulated with the sweetness of rasberry and a hint of date or fig richness. It has a lovely subtle and long finish.

Food Pairing:
This is a great cheese wine, but also one that would do lovely things with gamier meats like lamb, venison, and anything red cooked in a fruit sauce.

Overall Score: 9.5

How Much?: $18. Perhaps the best $18 I have spent on wine in the last year. People guess that this is a $30-$40 wine regularly. I get mine through Porthos.

Posted by: Alder on February 10, 2004 7:59 AM: Tweet; Share this post elsewhere: Digg it! - Add to del.icio.us - Add to Stumbleupon - Add to Reddit; Filed under: Red Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20

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Comments (5)

James wrote:

02.11.04 at 7:48 PM

I got to taste some of his wines a few weeks ago here in Toronto. We (I'm the webmaster and consumer marketer for the Lifford Wine Agency) will be representing Folie a Deux in Ontario and hopefully after a little while, we can begin getting some of the Scott Harvey wines in. I agree they were memorable!

jane rydberg wrote:

08.25.04 at 1:37 PM

Please let me know if there is Anyplace I can locate the Scott Harvey Syrah...is it all gone? thanks Jane

Alder wrote:

08.25.04 at 4:52 PM

Bad News:
The 2001 is pretty much entirely sold out everywhere. You'll be extremely lucky if you find it.

Good News:
The 2002 (which I haven't tasted) is now on the market and available several places, including www.porthos.com. I have heard that it isn't quite as much of a fruit bomb but that it is equally lush.

Earl wrote:

10.19.04 at 4:33 PM

With Trenchero (sp?) buying out Folie...the Lani's Vineyard Syrah will no longer be made when they run out of stock and wine in the barrel...however, Scott owns the contracts for that and the Zins I loved and he has started up his own winery and is already in production...

So buy up your stock now to get you through...

Adrienne Beatty wrote:

08.28.05 at 11:14 PM

Tis true! Every table I recommended try the 2001 Scott Harvey syrah fell in love with it. The 02 ain't quite the zipper that the 01 was. But there are some others to take the cake. Ever try the 2002 Old Clone Zinfandel from Boeger winery in the El Dorado Foothills?