Not dissimilar to the 2020 Distenta II Syrah served beside it, this year-older sibling is even more megabomb boom in its delivery. The 2019 is more busting out the seams with just pure black and blue…
"We got the funk.yeah. Chave got the funk." If you're billet is a barnyard and your palate is a pistol pinging for peat, then the 2005 Chave Hermitage is a call of the wild for you my friend. Earth…
Salty and funky on the nose, with an instant cool climate aura that makes you wanna stick your face further into the glass and pretend you tripped and fell in a blackberry field off the coast of…
The Donna's is much more of a Funky Cold Medina compared to its fraternal twin Block 45 sibling. Less floral as well, the Donna's smells more like a 2011 Napa Cabernet (or maybe a 2011 Cornas) than a…
100% Syrah from Block 45 of the Bien Nacido vineyard, the Gratus Amico leads with a bouquet of roses and a red berry fruit basket, followed by red raspberry, red and black cherry, and faint stone…
I haven't had this wine in over four years, but this really held its own throughout the evening. Still a powerful and strong showing, but not overbearing or loud. When I kept revisiting it, the…
This could certainly go another 3-5 years with no problem. Showing a meaty but finessed profile, with a bit of flex for the initial pour. Three hours in the decanter made for marked improvement…
Too early. Period. PnP was a total joke: hot and brash. It wasn't a hot 'mess' necessarily, but it teetered on being completely chaotic and vulgar. It was mad at me and I was mad at it. "Stop…
Although I typically don't like to use the word "Burgundian" when describing any wine that isn't actually from Burgundy, especially a Syrah, I couldn't help but the utter the word to describe the…
This shows as a super floral Cote Rotie type of profile, with higher-toned red fruit and only the slightest hint of meatiness currently showing. The 2017 is all about aromatics, with a gorgeous nose…
Get out your differential equation cheat-sheet kids because this Syrah is one PRI-MAR-Y panther. If you even know what a 'linear polynomial in the unknown function and its derivatives' means, or…
Less overtly exuberant and much more of a "cooler" feel to it than the 2017, the 2016 carries an older world restraint that presents a balanced and suave profile, especially for such a young wine;…
It'll come to no surprise that my recommendation to anyone holding bottles is to wait at least 6-7+ years before expecting the total zenith consumption time for this Syrah-dominant youngster (I'm…
Someone forgot to tell the Viognier that there was supposed to be Syrah in here, with the floral components masking the overly delicate "berry" fruit desperately struggling to show some Syrah…
Primary and fairly straight forward right now, with a linear expression of the varietal. Unripe crunchy plum, pomegranate seed, Concord grape, and raspberry seed dominate the profile. Next-to-no…
Still best to hold for another 4-5 years. This thing is just a monster of a Syrah that slaps the sass right out of your palate before you even have a chance to take a second sip. It's straight Viking…
Big boned and beefy, with a bit of a grapey mid-palate that is luckily saved by some extra intensity and frame, the Honey Bunny is a predictable but pretty tasty Paso purple bumpkin. It's a bit…
Initially coming off like a young and powerful Grenache, the Trouver l'Arene spat kirsch, red and black cherry, red and black raspberry, garrigue, and Cosmo cocktail notes that would've had me…
Ripe purple and black berry notes are suffused by oak char and dark earth; saturating and front-loaded, the Emilie flaunts a modern style that might make purists cringe a little. If you're into the…
Iron, terracotta, pink salt rock, white pepper, peperoni, and some funky wet horse pasture notes are an immediate English Pointer to Washington - perhaps more so toward Walla Walla than Yakima, but…
Decidedly linear and a bit stubborn, this is a 2015 Cornas that is going to need some time to find its groove and decide if and when it feels like expanding and deepening its flavors as some point.…
This Cornas has a long way to go before it finds its ability to girth-up and fan-out its flavors, but it is certainly on the right track. This bottle was followed over a week+ with some Coravin hits…
Oh it's far too early my friends, but darnit-all if this isn't a fine specimen worth having in the cellar for a rainy day a few years from now. Opaque in the glass, with only the rims allowing…
