BIG BASIN VINEYARDS
2005 RATTLESNAKE ROCK SYRAH - 94 points

"Towering, purple, blue and red fruits with bold aromas of currant, chocolate and smoke. The palate is lush berries, black tea and round with some salty nuances to the sun warmed fruit." - Doug Wilder, The Wilder Side of California

BIG BASIN VINEYARDS
2004 RATTLESNAKE ROCK SYRAH - 93 points

"Full of rich and supple aromas of blackberry and tarry violet. The palate is smooth and concentrated. This is a wine that gives immediate enjoyment as well as ability to age." - D. W.

February 2008 Issue

BIG BASIN VINEYARDS
2005 FAIRVIEW RANCH SYRAH - 93 points
2005 RATTLESNAKE ROCK SYRAH - 92 points

2005 Fairview Ranch Syrah: "The scent of mulberries and wild fruit gives this an untamed fell, spicy with crushed green peppercorn and lasting red berry flavors. The soft texture turns voluptuous as the wine takes on air, its structure based more on refreshing acidity than powerful tannin. A sleek red for squab with wild mushrooms."

2005 Syrah Rattlesnake Rock: "Bradley Brown began reclaiming an old vineyard site adjacent to Big Basin in 1998. He planted Rattlesnake Rock in 2000, at an elevation rising to 1,400 feet. Given the native yeast fermentation and the 100 percent new oak used in aging, you can expect the wine to be wild and powerful. It is, in fact, floral and black, with a meatiness to the aroma that one taster described as "blood sausage in a glass." The blueberry fruit is cut by sharp notes of conifer and black pepper, providing a tension to the wine that lasts. Decant it for roast venison or other game. "

ISSUE 172

BIG BASIN VINEYARDS
2005 FAIRVIEW RANCH SYRAH - 92 points
2005 MANDALA SYRAH - 92 points
2004 MANDALA SYRAH - 90 points
2005 RATTLESNAKE ROCK SYRAH - 92 points
2004 RATTLESNAKE ROCK SYRAH - 92 points

"Impressive Syrahs are being fashioned by proprietor Bradley Brown from his Santa Cruz Mountain vineyards. Unfortunately, quantities are limited for these cuvees. The 2004s reveal that vintage's opulence, richness, full-bodied power, and flesh. All the wines are bottled without fining or filtration. The 2004 Syrah Rattlesnake Rock exhibits creamy blackberry, damp earth, spice, meat, and earthy notes. Its seamless integration of acidity, tannin, and lofty alcohol results in a full-bodied, powerful, serious wine that can be drunk now and over the next 12-15 years. Displaying a smoky bacon fat character intermixed with truffle, beef, blackberry, and cassis notes, the 2004 Syrah Mandala is slightly lighter, but still dense, powerful, rich and harmonious. It should drink well for a decade.

The 2005 Syrah Rattlesnake Rock offers up aromas of charcoal, creme de cassis, pepper, and white chocolate. More elegant and restrained than the exuberant, flamboyant 2004, it is reminiscent of a top French Hermitage. Medium to full-bodied with moderately high tannin as well as a richness that builds incrementally in the mouth, this fresh lively, impressive Syrah should age well for 12-15 years. The 2005 Syrah Mandala possesses more intense fruit, not the complexity of the Rattlesnake Rock, but is just as good because of the sweetness, purity, and overall harmony of its elements. With superb purity, an expressive style, and loads of soul and character, it will provide plenty of pleasure over the next 10-12 years. A more cool climate effort is the 2005 Syrah Fairview Ranch from the Santa Lucia Highlands. It reveals a dense ruby/purple color as well as notes of bay leaf, a touch of mint, white chocolate, and plenty of black cherry and currant fruit. Rich, heady, and full-bodied, with less power and exuberance than its Santa Cruz Mountain siblings, this beauty shows impeccable winemaking and style. Drink it over the next decade or more. "

BIG BASIN VINEYARDS
2005 FAIRVIEW RANCH SYRAH - 91 points

"Beefy, with pepper, blueberry, sage and herbal scents. This is intense, focused and tannic, yet the fruit flavors pore through, providing a long, rich aftertaste. Drink now through 2013. " - J.L.

February 2007 Issue

BIG BASIN VINEYARDS
2004 MANDALA SYRAH - 95 points

"Grown on fractured mudstone high up in the Santa Cruz Mountains (at 1,300-1,400 feet), this is a barrel selection from Rattlesnake Rock Vineyard, five acres of young vines planted in 2000. This Syrah strikes a compelling balance between the purely delicious and the complex. The flavors are deep and inviting, bringing forest berries, mulberries and other wild tree fruits to mind. The fruit seems to sing out of the tannin, where the aromatics are buried in the fruit skin and mineral essence. The longer you sit with it, the longer the flavors lengthen and expand, an aniselike high note revealing Syrah's Mediterranean past. A simple rack of lamb will absorb some of the layers of spice in the wine and frame the simple purity of the fruit."

BIG BASIN VINEYARDS
2004 RATTLESNAKE ROCK SYRAH - 94 points, Editors Choice

"Maybe it’s the snake venom, but this is seriously good Syrah. Blackberry and cherry pie aromas and flavors, with caramelized oak, mocha, chocolate macaroon and vanilla extravagances that turn richer and richer with every sip. Defines Syrah’s power and elegance with immediate, voluptuous pleasure."

ISSUE 166

BIG BASIN VINEYARDS
2003 RATTLESNAKE ROCK SYRAH - 93 points
2004 RATTLESNAKE ROCK SYRAH (barrel sample)
- 92-94 points
2004 MANDALA SYRAH (barrel sample)
- 90-92 points

"These Santa Cruz Mountain offerings are very impressive, but production is extremely limited. For example, there are only 135 cases of the blockbuster 2003 Syrah Rattlesnake Rock. It boasts a dense purple color as well as an enormously endowed bouquet of creme de cassis, graphite, white flowers, and licorice, sweet tannin, a dense, full-bodied, intense palate, and plenty of glyerin as well as headiness. Drink it over the next decade. Slightly more elegant, the blue/purple-tinged, impressive 2004 Syrah Rattlesnake Rock exhibits a flowery character along with creme de cassis, full body, admirable fruit intensity, and good length. The outstanding, opaque ruby/purple-hued 2004 Syrah Mandala reveals notes of graphite, flowers, and black currants. Rich and medium to full-bodied, with sweet tannin as well as toasty oak in the background, it should drink well for a decade."

Connoisseurs' Guide to California Wine
Volume 31 Issue 9: July 2007

BIG BASIN VINEYARDS
2004 RATTLESNAKE ROCK SYRAH - 91 points, Two stars

"Unabashed intensity and power are the hallmarks of this highly extracted bottling. Its wild berry, herby/fennel, burnt vanilla bean aromas are followed on the palate by a full-bodied, ripe-tasting effort whose youthful tannins demand a few years of cellar aging even for those who like their Syrahs to show their muscles. The rest of us will wait half a decade."

BIG BASIN VINEYARDS
2004 RATTLESNAKE ROCK SYRAH - 91 points

"Distinctive for its bold blueberry, spice and licorice notes and its rustic and intense flavors of plum, smoky meats and cedar. Takes on complexity on the finish and there's no shortage of tannins, but it balances out in the end. Best from 2007 through 2012." - J.L.

BIG BASIN VINEYARDS
2003 RATTLESNAKE ROCK SYRAH - 92 points
2004 RATTLESNAKE ROCK SYRAH (barrel sample)
2004 MANDALA SYRAH - 91 points

"Bradley Brown, owner and winemaker of Big Basin Vineyards is among the new wave of talented Rhone Rangers working in California today. His first bottlings, the 2002 and 2003 vintages, were produced under the tutelage of consulting winemaker John Alban. And judging from the quality of these fabulous wines, Bradley Brown learned a great deal about producing Syrah. The 2004 Mandala has a an opaque purple core with an attractive nose of spicy black fruit, a soft silky texture with toasty oak on the finish. The 2003 Rattlesnake Rock is also spicy with an attractive nose of black and red fruit, soft ripe mouth feel and big tannins on the finish. The 2004 Rattlesnake Rock, a barrel sample, exhibited a dark ruby color with aromas of blackberries/blueberries and a velvety lush mouth feel with ripe fine grained tannins. this wine needs 1-2 years of aging, but should be outstanding."

ISSUE 159

BIG BASIN VINEYARDS
2003 RATTLESNAKE ROCK SYRAH- 93 points
2004 RATTLESNAKE ROCK SYRAH (barrel sample)

"This small estate, which produced only 140 cases in 2003 and 375 in 2004, exhibits considerable potential. The 2003 Syrah Rattlesnake Rock Vineyard possesses copious notes of spicy vanillin along with hints of crushed rocks, charcoal, creme de cassis, and pepper. This harmonious, medium to full-bodied, concentrated, full-flavored Syrah should drink well for 7-8 years. Denser, with additional aromatics, concentration, and depth is the 2004 Syrah Rattlesnake Rock Vineyard. Attractive notes of black fruits, toasty oak, spice box, and licorice are followed by a supple-textured, elegant offering. It, too, will age well for 7-8 years. "

ISSUE 154

BIG BASIN VINEYARDS
2002 RATTLESNAKE ROCK SYRAH- 93 points

"Sadly, there are only 170 cases of this sleeper effort. A blockbuster Syrah, an exuberant nose of bacon fat, blackberries, cassis, earth and Asian spices is followed by a wine with terrific fruit intensity, huge extract, sweet tannin and a long, heady finish that cascades over the palate. Drink this impressive 2002 over the next 7-8 years."

OCT. 2004 ISSUE

"TOP TEN SYRAHS OF THE YEAR"

BIG BASIN VINEYARDS
2002 RATTLESNAKE ROCK SYRAH- 93 points

"Blueberry on raspberry, velvet on velvet, this massive red is rich, but not overripe. The gorgeous texture and firm tannins come from grapes grown on a ridge top, six miles from the Pacific, where warm sunny days drop to cool nights through the season. Don't open this now. The structure will repay several years of age."