The finish just would not end. The length of the finish is one of the defining characteristics of a great wine and this one had a doozy. It started out great with an earthy, deeply fruity nose and concentrated flavors that flowed into a finish of epic proportions. The only problem is that this wine had a finish more appropriate to Bourbon than wine.

The 2003 Jade Mountain Napa Valley Syrah has much to commend it up front, but as soon as you swallow, Dante’s Inferno overtakes whatever there was to like about this wine. The big fruit is soon sucked down and overwhelmed by an intense alcohol burn that would be more appropriate at a cigar bar than the dinner table.

I had this wine with a giant steak at Morton’s and it was too big even for that much fat. If it can’t match that, it can’t match anything. Yes it had a finish that wouldn’t stop, but the problem was that I wanted it to. In fact, the Cognac we had after dinner had less burn that this Molotov Cocktail of a wine.