2005 La Serenne Syrah
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Tasting notes
(entirely from Boushey Vineyard fruit) Good saturated ruby-red. Sexy aromas of black raspberry, woodsmoke and bacon fat. Sweet, silky and utterly seamless, with captivating notes of brown spice, coffee bean and smoked meat. (Betz is starting to use some Darnajou barrels for his syrah and it shows.) Showing more texture than mid-palate nuance now but this backward wine simply needs time to express itself. Finishes with plenty of sweet oak and superb persistence. Don't make the mistake of opening this one too soon. Betz expressed an opinion similar to that of Paul Golitzin when he told me that "2005 is as ageworthy a vintage as I've ever made."
Critic scores
Average Score
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
Jay S Miller, Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
The 2005 La Serenne comes from the Boushey Vineyard, a cooler site. Its aromatics are at least as impressive as its sibling’s with aromas of smoke, meat, chocolate, and blueberry leaping from the glass. Velvety-textured, dense, and rich, the wine has remarkable concentration and great integration of the oak, tannin, and acidity. It has enough structure to evolve for 4-6 years and should drink well through 2024. As an aside, I tasted a barrel sample of a 2006 Petit Verdot from the Ciel du Cheval Vineyard of which there are only two barrels (50 cases). Were it to be bottled separately, I would rate it (97-100). However, Bob Betz, informed me just prior to going to press that he has decided to blend it into the 2006 Pere de Famille. Oh well? Tel. (425) 861-9823; www.betzfamilywinery.com