| ORION TASTING NOTES |
| TN: 1988 Sean Thackrey Orion Posted by Marco on Feb 04, 1999 at 12:24:06 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Still dark in color. Hardly showing any signs of age. Complex on both the nose and palate, with roasted plums, bacon fat, pepper, (tree bark?). Silky tannins. A real treat to drink. Very "CdP-like". Seems to have the structure for further aging. Very nice for $29. I have a few bottles of the 1994 version, can't wait to give that a try... anybody try the '94 recently? |
| Topic: TN: Sean Thackrey 1993 Orion Rossi Vineyard Author: David Austin, Seattle Date: Fri Oct 27 12:00:59 2000 My introduction to Orion was on my birthday 4 years ago, opening a bottle of 1990 Orion to have with a lamb dish. This aesthetic experience defined for me the beauty achievable by syrah. I tracked down some 1993 Orion to cellar. We pulled one of these out to celebrate my wife''s birthday, to complement roast duck. I must comment on the cork (with a nod to John Trombley) - the finest cork I''ve seen, long and solid. Dense opaque purple. Intense nose of violets, blackberries, essence of syrah, with a palate to fully meet the expectations engendered by the nose. Meaty, blackberry, dark fruits, eucalyptus, a palate of immense proportion, with seamless oak, some earth and acid, an exquisite balance of all elements. The moderate tannins and balance suggest that this will indeed age for a long time. I am saddened that the price of Orion has risen to a point commensurate with its quality... |
| TN: Volnays, Chave, Ch. Simone et. al. Posted by Robert Noecker on February 01, 1998 at 13:10:07 1989 Orion, Syrah, from Sean Thackrey. A California bruiser. Tarry, smoky and peppery with undertones of licorice and smoke. From the old Schmidt Vineyard behind Mustard's Grill. Old vines fer sure. |
| Topic: TN: Egad, yet more Rhones! And an "oid" Author: Stuart Yaniger/ Napa Date: Sun Oct 29 19:35:46 2000 '88 Thackrey "Orion" syrah: Oh, Orion. I thought the label said "Onion," so it seemed natural to try it with the soup. Pardon my dyslexia. Good youthful color belies a well-developed old-syrah nose. The flavors have a nice fruit core, but 15 minutes later, the mint rose up and took the wine over. At that point, it became undrinkable. Napa Valley just isn''t the spot for syrah. |
| 1992 Sean Thackrey Orion (6/29/01): Not decanted. Almost black in color, becoming a slightly lighter, but still very dark purple towards the edges. The nose was initially dark berries and plums, with a significant earthy note. Over the course of dinner the wine continued to open up, although slowly. The berry flavors came more to the fore, a slight leathery component developed, and the earthy component became better integrated. Tannins are still significant, but very fine, and not obtrusive. Pleasant acidity made it quite a nice food wine. Very enjoyable. |
| TN: Christmas Wines Posted by Robert Helms on Dec 28, 1999 at 04:16:40 Sean Thackrey, Orion 1994 Dark. Very unusual nose... people have described this nose as asparagus and artichoke... I am not sure I agree but it sure is interesting and quite pleasant. Rich wine, lots of fruit, ripe tannins, quite long. Drinking well but nowhere near its peak is my guess. Excellent |
| Topic: TN: US vs. Aussie Syrah Author: marc pearlman (Boston) Date: Tue Apr 18 13:26:27 2000 Last night a small group of us gathered to compare some syrah..US and Aussie. In attendance, myself, Mike and Carla Lawton, Rey Fortney and Pmac. Mike and Carla were generous and had us over for some wonderful Lamb stew, kabobs and other assorted goodies. Rey brought some wonderful cheeses, (some of which I was not daring enough to try), and we closed with a fabulous cheese cake that Pmac brought. Great food, wine and company. As always, some great stickies ended the meal perfectly. Wines were served blind, each person only knowing what they had brought, and served in two flights, first US, second Australian. Most interesting was the differences between the Cals, and the the similarities (at leat on the nose) of the Aussies. One of the noted differances between the two regions was the ammount of acidity in the Aussies. Perhaps added to give structure to these fat warm weather wines, but it seemed to challange the balance of a few of them. First place votes were tallied for each flight, than a taste off between the two winnners Flight 1 first place votes: 1997 Qupe Bien Nacido Hillside Estate (3), 1992 Orion (2) Flight 2 first place votes: 1996 Kay Brothers Amery Vineyard Block6 (5) Overall winner: Kay Bros (5) 1992 Thackrey Orion Picked this one as Orion based on telltale nose full on, effusive menthol, pine nettle, almost overbearing Thick in the mouth with more of the "mentholyptis" type cough drop flavors Excellent grippy tannins on the finish I had this wine several times from various vinatges now, and the 92 twice and have determined I do not like this style of wine. Its overly sharp and the Menthol flavors are overblown to me. |
| TN: NH/MA offline decadence Posted by Mark Levesque (NH) on Sep 09, 1999 at 11:02:53Sean Thackrey Orion 1993 Sean Thackrey Orion 1993 very dark color. Lovely nose. Black fruits and coffee. Big chunky, fruity but significantly tannic. Cries out for a large piece of rare red meat. |
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