delicious notes of cherry and leather with the addition of subdued minerality. nothing offensive here, smooth as a silk purse. needs some tasty jalapeño and cheese sausage to truly light it up. drink happily with comedic company.
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Nose: garrigue, lavender, violet, olive brine, black/blue fruit, some alcohol. Palate: deep black/inky body, profile similar to nose, fruit is secondary, red velvet cake, some cocoa, slight salinity, high alcohol on palate but not too overwhelming. Moderately tannic, but tannins are very smooth. I followed the advice of previous posts, opened and recorked 4 hours before drinking. Was amazing on day 1. Held up very well on day 2, I may slightly prefer day 1 but splitting hairs.
Overall this was possibly the best bottle of 100% syrah I've had. Very memorable and drinking in its prime, with no clear evidence of declining soon.
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Still something of a tannic beast after 14 years. Fruit is going strong. Very nice! However, still a bit young. Nowhere near the end of its drinking window! Has at least a few more years of improvement, probably through 2025, maybe later. Opened up nicely after a day or two and became much better.
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Rich, pure and focused this is quite the treat. Opened, not decanted, but followed over the course of three days, this improved from day one to two and then retreated noticeably. Dark maroon, some purple, and highly aromatic with cherry, coffee, plum, blackberry, blueberry and caramel. Pure delight in the mouth with great weight and presence leading to long full finish. Certainly big and rich, and it needs to be to cover the 15.5% alcohol so effortlessly. Fruit from a site approximately 2000 feet in elevation. Expect to be good for another 5-7 years.
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To say this is a big wine is an understatement. It requires at least a 4 or 5 hour decant. The nose is a dead giveaway to exactly how powerful this wine is. Palate gripping, rich dark fruit accompanied by a very long finish in response to firm tannins and acidity. Buckle your seat belts for a hellofa ride.
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Aerated to decanter, served non-blind. After 2 hours in the decanter, we finally sat down to dinner, though the wine wasn't quite ready. By the mid-way point of the dinner, though, this rounded third base and headed for home as it seemed to suddenly make up for all of its dawdling. Lovely aromatics, with a fully evolved palate. Missing some depth to the fruit, but the overall harmony given its maturity makes up for it. While the nose is nearly screaming at the 3 hr mark, the palate is much more subtle, and very well composed. I'd put this in the very good category; I'm thankful, too, that it went so well with smoked spice-rubbed pork loins that spent 13 hours on the smoker. The label says 15,5% abv, but by the time we actually served this, it seemed completely resolved. Drink thru 2015
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dark fruits on the nose and inky purple in color. Palate is dark fruits and some really nice smoke and spice. was pleasantly surprised with this. honestly had no real idea what to expect, but we were all very impressed with this. would definitely seek out more if i can find them again.
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Friday Night Tasting in KW (Andrew's House): Popped and poured, followed for approximately one hour. Deep inky purple in the glass, showing notes of blueberry pie, florals, vanilla and oak. On the palate, like notes of candied blueberries. Despite being a beast, this is nicely polished, and reasonably well balanced, hiding that 15.5% alcohol rather well. Some decent acidity here that keeps this from being too fat. Other than the blue fruit, this has been stripped of any varietal typicity. I typically gravitate towards the Northern Rhone style of Syrah, so this is not really my bag, but for what it is, this was enjoyable at this juncture in the evening.
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Friday Night KW Tasting (Andrew's Place): (tasted blind) while immediately recognizable as modern, this lacked any varietal or regional character. I thought either Merlot or Syrah from Bolgheri or California. It was ripe with alcohol noted. Spiced Blackberry liquer note. Perhaps something from a more mountainous climate in California? 92 Points for hedonistic pleasure.
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This one needs time. It's an tannic and alcoholic monster at this point. It didn't budge after 2 hour decant and Venturi filtration. Re-bottled for the next day and it was much better. A dense purple color with a full nose. Lots of blueberries on the palate with some strawberry, blackberry and hints of dark cherry. Somewhat full and jammy. The high alcohol (15.5%) is evident in the late palate and finish. Not very spicy for a Shiraz, maybe masked by the alcoholic finish. A very well made and structured wine, but I would give this another 5 years in the cellar to smooth out the rough edges. It has the potential to be a 95 point wine, but it's not there yet...
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1/1/2023 - Crateandbarrell Likes this wine: 93 Points
delicious notes of cherry and leather with the addition of subdued minerality. nothing offensive here, smooth as a silk purse. needs some tasty jalapeño and cheese sausage to truly light it up. drink happily with comedic company.
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12/31/2020 - Thek Likes this wine: 95 Points
Nose: garrigue, lavender, violet, olive brine, black/blue fruit, some alcohol.
Palate: deep black/inky body, profile similar to nose, fruit is secondary, red velvet cake, some cocoa, slight salinity, high alcohol on palate but not too overwhelming. Moderately tannic, but tannins are very smooth.
I followed the advice of previous posts, opened and recorked 4 hours before drinking. Was amazing on day 1. Held up very well on day 2, I may slightly prefer day 1 but splitting hairs.
Overall this was possibly the best bottle of 100% syrah I've had. Very memorable and drinking in its prime, with no clear evidence of declining soon.
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6/4/2020 - mac-eye Likes this wine: 93 Points
Still something of a tannic beast after 14 years. Fruit is going strong. Very nice! However, still a bit young. Nowhere near the end of its drinking window! Has at least a few more years of improvement, probably through 2025, maybe later.
Opened up nicely after a day or two and became much better.
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10/28/2019 - mprachar Likes this wine: 93 Points
I just opened my last (and oldest) Haley, and I couldn't be happier :)
It's a velvetbomb! All of the big tannins and rich character we get form this wine has mellowed into a great blend of the bold and the beautiful.
For reference, we opened an 07 from my same cellar, and the difference is pretty dramatic. This wine is turning a very interesting corner right now.
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12/1/2013 - smphelps wrote: 94 Points
Rich, pure and focused this is quite the treat. Opened, not decanted, but followed over the course of three days, this improved from day one to two and then retreated noticeably. Dark maroon, some purple, and highly aromatic with cherry, coffee, plum, blackberry, blueberry and caramel. Pure delight in the mouth with great weight and presence leading to long full finish. Certainly big and rich, and it needs to be to cover the 15.5% alcohol so effortlessly. Fruit from a site approximately 2000 feet in elevation. Expect to be good for another 5-7 years.
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9/18/2013 - oenophilemoose wrote: 93 Points
To say this is a big wine is an understatement. It requires at least a 4 or 5 hour decant. The nose is a dead giveaway to exactly how powerful this wine is. Palate gripping, rich dark fruit accompanied by a very long finish in response to firm tannins and acidity. Buckle your seat belts for a hellofa ride.
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7/14/2013 - Tim Heaton Likes this wine:
Aerated to decanter, served non-blind. After 2 hours in the decanter, we finally sat down to dinner, though the wine wasn't quite ready. By the mid-way point of the dinner, though, this rounded third base and headed for home as it seemed to suddenly make up for all of its dawdling. Lovely aromatics, with a fully evolved palate. Missing some depth to the fruit, but the overall harmony given its maturity makes up for it. While the nose is nearly screaming at the 3 hr mark, the palate is much more subtle, and very well composed. I'd put this in the very good category; I'm thankful, too, that it went so well with smoked spice-rubbed pork loins that spent 13 hours on the smoker. The label says 15,5% abv, but by the time we actually served this, it seemed completely resolved. Drink thru 2015
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9/16/2012 - lano wrote: 92 Points
dark fruits on the nose and inky purple in color. Palate is dark fruits and some really nice smoke and spice. was pleasantly surprised with this. honestly had no real idea what to expect, but we were all very impressed with this. would definitely seek out more if i can find them again.
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7/16/2012 - alittle wrote: 90 Points
Friday Night Tasting in KW (Andrew's House): Popped and poured, followed for approximately one hour. Deep inky purple in the glass, showing notes of blueberry pie, florals, vanilla and oak. On the palate, like notes of candied blueberries. Despite being a beast, this is nicely polished, and reasonably well balanced, hiding that 15.5% alcohol rather well. Some decent acidity here that keeps this from being too fat. Other than the blue fruit, this has been stripped of any varietal typicity. I typically gravitate towards the Northern Rhone style of Syrah, so this is not really my bag, but for what it is, this was enjoyable at this juncture in the evening.
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7/14/2012 - Wine Canuck wrote: 92 Points
Friday Night KW Tasting (Andrew's Place): (tasted blind) while immediately recognizable as modern, this lacked any varietal or regional character. I thought either Merlot or Syrah from Bolgheri or California. It was ripe with alcohol noted. Spiced Blackberry liquer note. Perhaps something from a more mountainous climate in California? 92 Points for hedonistic pleasure.
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11/14/2011 - lagavulin wrote: 92 Points
This one needs time. It's an tannic and alcoholic monster at this point. It didn't budge after 2 hour decant and Venturi filtration. Re-bottled for the next day and it was much better. A dense purple color with a full nose. Lots of blueberries on the palate with some strawberry, blackberry and hints of dark cherry. Somewhat full and jammy. The high alcohol (15.5%) is evident in the late palate and finish. Not very spicy for a Shiraz, maybe masked by the alcoholic finish. A very well made and structured wine, but I would give this another 5 years in the cellar to smooth out the rough edges. It has the potential to be a 95 point wine, but it's not there yet...
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