Need Advice on Aging Wine

[oostexan]

Hey guys, I would appreciate a little advice please, if its not too much trouble.

Lately, I have been on a Cali Syrah kick. Frankly, I have been buying a lot of the wild stuff - very concentrated, very fruitty, ripe, and somewhat high in alcohol. Yep, these guy are not terrible balanced, can overwhehlm food, etc. - but it is damn fun juice! So I am in a bit of a quandry.

In the past I have been a Bordeaux, Cali Cab, and Southern Rhone kinda guy. I know how to age these varietals and what to expect. I always put a minimum of 7 to 8 years of age on them, and sample them as they go on the rise.

These cali fruit bombs, I have no idea what to do with.

A part of me thinks that a few years of bottle age will soften out the tannins and make them a little more velvety, and make these guys a little more tame and enjoyable. That would work great for a few of the Pax and JC Cellars Syrahs and Petit Syrahs that are so concentrated, I can barely drink them. But I do not want to lose that distinctiveness that these wines bring. I do not want that ripe fruit to go away!

So this is my question - what are you guys doing with these types of wines? I am primarily talking about bottles such as the following:

Rosenblum - England Shaw Syrah, Rockpile Zin, etc.

Ridge Zinfindels - Paso Robles, Lytton Springs, etc. These are not too big.

Jc Cellars - All of their Syrahs, Petite Syrahs, etc.

Pax - Syrahs (Cuvee Christine, etc.)

Novy - Sonoma Syrah, Page Nord Syrah, etc.

Thank you in advance ladies and gentlemen!

[Innkeeper]

Not familiar with many of these. The Rosenblums are usually approachable fairly early. The PSs are faily easy. Other than well known inexpensive approchable ones such as Bogle's, most of them need eight to ten. It is best to know the reputation of producer or to have tasted them early on to insure that they are balanced before tucking them away.

The "new" style of Syrahs as with many current Cabernet Sauvignons made with overripe fruit, have questionable aging potential. The reason is that leaving the grapes hang to sky high brix levels also results in very high pH. High pH takes away the aging potential of wine.

[wondersofwine]

The Ridge Lytton Springs will probably be good even after 15-20 years (but can be enjoyed sooner). The Paso Robles I'm not sure about--would maybe target for drinking within 8-10 years of harvest, but I think Draper provides window of drinking notes on the labels so check those out. I've been told he is conservative on estimating the aging ability of the Lytton Springs and Geyserville.

[winoweenie]

Most of the wines you list are candidates for extended ageing. I've taken some Lytton Srrings to 20 years along with the Geyserville. I've found all of the better Syrahs benifit from at least 8 years in the dark. WW