2008 Alban Syrah Reva Estate

(raised in French oak, 80% of it new, for 44 months; 15.1% alcohol): Glass-staining purple. Sexy smoke- and spice-accented aromas of candied black and blue fruits and potpourri, with a suggestion of black pepper building with air. Lush and expansive on the palate, offering deeply pitched but lively cassis and blueberry flavors and a suave floral pastille nuance. The spicy note comes back strong on the finish, which shows only a hint of tannins.

The 2008 Reva (Syrah) is stunningly beautiful. This is a relatively delicate, feminine Reva that impresses for its length, balance and utter purity of fruit. Dark red cherries, flowers, mint, licorice and silky, saline notes wrap around the expressive fruit on the long, polished finish. A hint of truffles adds to the wine's sensual, totally beguiling personality. In 2008, the Reva is drop-dead gorgeous. Readers should note than in this vintage, there is no Lorraine or Seymour's, so the 2008 is a 'super-Reva!'

The 2008 Reva (Syrah) is stunningly beautiful. This is a relatively delicate, feminine Reva that impresses for its length, balance and utter purity of fruit. Dark red cherries, flowers, mint and silky, saline notes wrap around the expressive fruit on the long, polished finish. A hint of truffles adds to the wine’s sensual, totally beguiling personality. In 2008, the Reva is drop-dead gorgeous. Readers should note that, in this vintage, there is no Lorraine or Seymour’s, so the 2008 is a “super-Reva!” Anticipated maturity: 2013-2020. This is a fabulous set of wines from John and Lorraine Alban. Quite simply, I was blown away by what I tasted. As I noted last year, the whites are increasingly made in a more energetic style, not a bad thing as the fruit is already so expressive from the start. Over the years, a similar evolution has taken place with the reds. The inky, black color of the Syrahs is now gone. Today, Alban favors lengthy barrel aging for his top reds, a technique he compares to “braising” in cooking, which requires softer and gentler fermentations at the outset. Beginning around 2006, Alban started doing fewer pump overs and in general encourages longer, slower fermentations. The wines used to go into barrel with some sugar still left to ferment, while today they go in drier than in the past. Over the years, new oak levels have also come down. Most of the current releases are 2008s, a vintage Alban describes as characterized by a spring frost, drought and cloudy days with less heat and sunlight than is typically the case. Readers may want to check out my video interview with John Alban for more on current and upcoming vintages. Tel. (805) 546-0305; www.albanvineyards.com