2003 Garretson Aisling Syrah (Paso Robles)

The Chelsea Wine Vault (http://www.chelseawinevault.com/) is located in Chelsea Market at 15th St, and 9th Avenue. The store has a solid selection of wines from all over the world even if I think it’s a little light on Bordeaux (my personal favorite.) One of the other great things about the Chelsea Wine Vault is its tastings of which they seem to have four or more times a week. This can be particularly fun (as well as dangerous and expensive) if you work in the building.

It was one my way home one evening that I caught a tasting of wines from Paso Robles’s Garriston Vineyard (http://www.garretsonwines.com/). They deal mostly with Rhone blends with Syrah being their signature grape. I tasted a variety of their wines, including both red and white table wines, a Roussanne, and two Syrahs. The best of the lot in my opinion was their Aisling Syrah.

The wine itself of a 100% Syrah aged in American Oak. Dark red in color, its nose is cedar and dark fruit with cassis (possibly blackberry too) standing out the most. Its texture is smooth and creamy with a long finish. Basically, this wine is all about the texture and it’s a good one.

There were only 500 cases produced and as far as I can tell, Chelsea Wine Vault is the only store in New York that carries it. Suggested retail price according to the winery is $30 and Chelsea carries it for $34.