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Mission Codename: Multi-Gold in them thar hills

Operative: Agent Red

Objective: Procure a stellar Old Vine Zinfandel

Mission Status: Accomplished!

Current Winery: Scott Harvey Wines

Wine Subject: 2004 Syrah Amador County

Winemaker: Scott Harvey

Backgrounder:

Nestled in California’s once gold-rich Sierra Foothills, the Amador County AVA (American Viticultural Area) has been called California’s last great undiscovered wine growing region. With vineyards that date back to the 19th Century, this region is home to some of the oldest vines in the state. Today, Amador County produces some of the best Syrahs and Zinfandels in the state. Today’s wine is the best example of a great Amador Syrah. Read Agent Red’s tasting notes and mission report below

Wine Spies Tasting Profile:

Look – Deep burgundy in color, with a deep and inky heart with intense color concentration right to the edges. When swirled, this wine shows a loose and springy surface that settles quickly, leaving behind skinny legs that move down the glass at a medium pace

Smell – Deep blueberry, blackberry, smoky plum and sweetwoods. Dark and dusky, this wine exudes follow-on aromatics of dried sweet leaves, salt and fine spice

Feel – Very light at the front of the palate, then soft and slightly dry with fine tannins on the mid-palate – and finally, it dries your lips

Taste – Delicious, sweet and softly smoky, with initial bright flavors of dark mixed berries, soft vanilla, soft oak, licorice and mixed spice

Finish – Long and bold and big on flavor, this wine starts bright with rich fruit, then tails off with a slight salty licorice flavor that is delicious

Conclusion – A great wine that is interesting and complex! Big, bright, bold, rich and delicious, this Syrah pleases us on many different levels. Amador is a wine region that continues to amaze us with rich wines of distinctive feel and flavors. This special wine from our friends at Scott Harvey wines is very original and very pleasurable treat.

Previous Mission Recap:

What follows is a recap of Agent Red’s original encounter with today’s winery:

I recently took my son, mini-agent Agent Juice Box, up to the Sierra Foothills. The idea was to spend some quality Spy-son time together, hiking the varied terrain, enjoying the outdoors, and even trying out hands at some gold panning.

We had a wonderful time and the fresh air and time away did wonders for our spirits. While up there, I had vowed to unplug from the world of wine, and focus, instead, of having a great non-wine time. I believed that such a thing was possible and I did pretty good. For the most part.

You see, while trekking through Amador County, we kept passing vineyard after vineyard. Of course, I knew of this region as a superior wine growing region for rich, extracted reds like Syrah, Zinfandel and Cab, but I had never given the region its due investigation.

Every time my eyes locked on a vineyard or a winery sign, Agent Juice Box would rein me back in. “Uh uh, Dad. We’re on vacation, remember?” This phrase was repeated more than once, and I did manage to heed this wise young agents advice. I did, however make a few small mental notes of vineyards and wineries to investigate later.

The vacation over, the both of us spent but relaxed, we reflected on the journey. “Good times, Dad. Have you conducted any Amador wine research yet?”

That was all the ‘permission’ I needed. Together we recalled what we had seen and we jumped into the Wine Spies W.I.N.E. (Wine Internet Nexus Engine) databases to put together a few mission plans.

My first mission was to Scott Harvey Wines, where I discovered today’s incredible Zinfandel – and some really amazingly great people. Scott, a veteran winemaker and his wife Jana, who ‘runs the joint’, are warm, deeply experienced and wonderful folks.

Scott, a former partner of Folie a Deux Winery, is widely recognized as one of Amador County’s most experienced modern winemakers. Today he makes elegant wines, where others from the region can tend to be overly concentrated, from wines that predate prohibition.

Today’s is not just a great Amador County Syrah, it is a great Syrah!

Wine Spies Vineyard Check:

The location of the vineyard where this wine was born is classified, but you can see Amador County in this satellite photo.