I like wines with lower alcohol levels. Or should I say: wines where the alcohol acts merely as a (hidden) structure and discreet carrier of flavors.
My first (an so far only) experience with the Scholium Project was... well, disappointing. I have had (and enjoyed) other wines with high alcohol levels before (such as the amazing Brewer-Clifton 2005 Sweeney Canyon Chardonnay) and was prepared. And hopeful. I can say that I made an honest attempt to understand the fascination behind The Scholium Project. But the 2005 Iseult Hudson Vineyard was beyond me. It was all alcohol power, less pure Syrah pleasure.
The Scholium's website says that they "harvested this fruit so late in the year that there were no laborers to pick it". What sounds like a juvenile bragging about being intentionally late for school is actually the wine's major problem: overripe fruit.
The 2005 Iseult Syrah has an opaque ruby color and a pronounced aroma of black cherry, leather and hay. Particularly the latter gives the Iseult and interesting earthy quality. On the palate the wine is dry, has a medium amount of ripe tannins and medium acidity. The flavors are concentrated - a pronounced intensity of cherry pulp, orange and pepper. The very essence of ground black pepper without the physical attack. All of this continues over a medium(+) length.
This Syrah obviously has many interesting aspects, but it lacks freshness, balance and elegance. Every sip feels like a bull fight in my mouth. An impressive, massive beast that evades being pinned down and thrusts forward when I least expect it. This wine is a spectacle but at the end leaves me exhausted. It is too charged to be enjoyed by itself and its alcoholic power also limits the choice of food it could be paired with.
The following day the aroma had turned more leathery with a touch of wet leaves and spices, which I found quite attractive. But on the palate, this Syrah was still just as brutal as it was on the day before. Somewhere in the valleys of California once lived a Chinese philosopher who used to say that one of the three main virtues in life is balance. I forgot what the other two were.