1998 Kongsgaard "Hudson Vineyard" Napa Valley Syrah

There are about 200 cases of the opaque black/purple-colored 1998 Syrah Hudson Vineyard. As John Kongsgaard said, it was made from "stupidly low yields." The wine is tight in the mouth, but reveals tremendous stuffing along with scents of blackberries, licorice, earth, truffles, pepper, and graphite. Massively tannic, but sweet and rich, this wine should enjoy two decades of life. (RP)

Healthy medium red. Aromas of sour cherry, raspberry, plum, pungent herbs and caraway seed. Juicy, savory and firm-edged, with very fresh red fruit flavors showing a distinctly herbal quality and slightly tart acidity. Solidly structured Syrah but with its strong energy and modest flesh it comes across as a bit screechy. Very savory, salty, rather lean wine. Kongsgaard noted that the maiden vintage, the 1996, included a bit of Viognier, but he quickly dropped that variety. 'The wine is so deep that it doesn't need Viognier,' he explained. 'It didn't change the wine.' (ST)