Tonight this was showing very well - an initial gentle funk on hose nose but plenty of fruit behind. Quite soft on the palate - but beautiful ripe fruit. Some spice. Long, slightly peppery finish. Suggest serving a little chilled to give it a bit of freshness. Holding up well.
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Authentic but fairly muted nose - just a little funk. Touch sweet on the palate. Prickly acid. Lovely pure ripe Syrah fruit on the palate. Hint of medicinal notes. Resolved tannin. I find it very real - unmanipulated and honest. I like it very much. If I have a criticism it would be that perhaps the wine has a touch too much weight, coming from the ripeness of the fruit. Yet there is plenty of freshness. No hurry. Better than the bottle tasted July 25th. Bought on release.
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Quite a dark hue but just starting to pale at the rim. Initially muted nose of clean Syrah fruit. Beautiful palate of pixelated mixed berries - quite sweet but really fresh and bright. Not much spice. No funk. No hard edges. Some hints of leather. Acid shows up two thirds of the way through followed by no more than an appropriate tannic structure and discrete but present length. Unlike the bottle tasted December of last year because I decanted this 40 minutes - so we lost any funk and edginess. This seemed prettier, redder fruited and structurally gentler. Strongly suggest a brief decant. The delicacy of St Joseph on display. Drinking young. Fine. There is a purity to this that I like very much. You can tell this is a wine that is faithful to its origins. After 90 minutes, more expressive nose with more earth notes and terrific length. Bought on release.
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Sixty-five year old petite serene. Only 25% destemmed. 18 months on lees in 1-3 year old barrels. Dark hue of red. Initially quite discreet but classically Syrah nose of darker fruits plus some pleasant funk. Smoke. Medium weight on the palate, faithfully reflecting its origins in northern St. Joseph on decomposed granite. Almost prickly acid. Some funky notes running through the palate also. Seems fully ripe but also initially ungenerous in its delivery of fruit. Chalky but fully resolved tannins. The structure comes more from the acid. Became denser and less lean over 30 minutes. Long but not compellingly so. Completely honest wine. Gutsy serene needing food. My kind of St Joseph but perhaps not to be served to the mother in law. Not for everyone. Two things are very evident - this is by no means yet on the way down and the low sulphur level does influence the wine (as may be the aging on lees). First of twelve. Suggest decanting. Can be kept but likely will not improve. Bought on release. 2011 apparently the last vintage of this.
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Great red fruit on the nose. Great pure red fruit and acid on the palate. Still showing young after 12 years. Plenty of stuffing. These will continue to get better.
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A beautiful showing. On par with previous bottles, showing remarkable purity and finesse with an array of high toned herbal, violet, lavender, and other floral accents around the core of red berried fruit, and a more savoury earthy/mineral character emerging with some time in the glass. Not a whole lot of tannin apparent here, but there's plenty of structure coming from the acidity which gives it a very light, elegant mouthfeel and gives it the sheer refreshment value of a light Beaujolais, though with all the depth and character I'd expect from an excellent Syrah.
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The gift of an ex-Connecticut gentleman. Quite a bit of effervescence. The nose is a bit more restrained than I anticipated, and shows mostly a very fruit-forward characteristic, although there is just a slight undercurrent of meatiness to this that I find quite alluring. There's quite some nice acidity to this wine, which is buffered by lots of fruit in both the red and black categories. There's a great dose of black pepper here as well. At the end of the day, this wine, while good, is quite simplistic but is nonetheless a pretty tasty example of syrah.
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Still fairly raw and awkward due to youth. Hours of decanting finally brought out a lovely floral clarity, but for my taste this is almost completely unevolved and still needs 3-5 years.
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Superb wine. So polished and graceful with bright red and dark fruit accented by gentle floral and earthy notes. All about purity and finesse with surprisingly gentle, fine grained tannins and most of the structure here coming from the acidity. Drinking remarkably well now, and I'm glad I have more.
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Agree with Salil's note below. Dominated by tart fruit. A nice pepper note was present on the nose on day two. Very fresh tasting; great buoyant acidity. Lovely wine, will get better when the earthy elements are in better balance with the fruit.
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Awkward and disjointed at first, it finally came together after 4 days. Dark fruits (blackberry, blueberry) but fresh with a hint of chocolate. Interesting minerality (like warm stone). Silky with very good acidity. Looks like it needs a few more years. Very promising.
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Drank over several nights. The potential is there, but it's a little early to drink this. Good crunchy fruit with a strong herbal quality, licorish, pepper and fruit resembling under-ripe blackberries and black plums at this point.
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More open-knit and accessible than the 2009 Texier St. Joseph; this comes across a little lighter and more finessed with the same elegant flavours of red fruits tinged with smoky and peppery accents, but the tannin this vintage isn't as pronounced and there's more acidity here, giving it a greater sense of freshness and lightness. Right now it's still incredibly primary and dominated by its fruit, but I'm looking forward to seeing what'll happen to my other bottles with time.
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5/9/2024 - MuddyBoots wrote:
Tonight this was showing very well - an initial gentle funk on hose nose but plenty of fruit behind. Quite soft on the palate - but beautiful ripe fruit. Some spice. Long, slightly peppery finish. Suggest serving a little chilled to give it a bit of freshness. Holding up well.
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10/7/2023 - MuddyBoots wrote:
Authentic but fairly muted nose - just a little funk. Touch sweet on the palate. Prickly acid. Lovely pure ripe Syrah fruit on the palate. Hint of medicinal notes. Resolved tannin. I find it very real - unmanipulated and honest. I like it very much. If I have a criticism it would be that perhaps the wine has a touch too much weight, coming from the ripeness of the fruit. Yet there is plenty of freshness. No hurry. Better than the bottle tasted July 25th. Bought on release.
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7/25/2023 - MuddyBoots wrote:
On this bottle I noticed the wet leafy notes more .Herbs. Dark Syrah fruit beneath. Very fresh acid. Holding up just fine. Needs food.
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3/12/2023 - MuddyBoots wrote:
Quite a dark hue but just starting to pale at the rim. Initially muted nose of clean Syrah fruit. Beautiful palate of pixelated mixed berries - quite sweet but really fresh and bright. Not much spice. No funk. No hard edges. Some hints of leather. Acid shows up two thirds of the way through followed by no more than an appropriate tannic structure and discrete but present length. Unlike the bottle tasted December of last year because I decanted this 40 minutes - so we lost any funk and edginess. This seemed prettier, redder fruited and structurally gentler. Strongly suggest a brief decant. The delicacy of St Joseph on display. Drinking young. Fine. There is a purity to this that I like very much. You can tell this is a wine that is faithful to its origins. After 90 minutes, more expressive nose with more earth notes and terrific length. Bought on release.
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12/1/2022 - MuddyBoots wrote:
Sixty-five year old petite serene. Only 25% destemmed. 18 months on lees in 1-3 year old barrels. Dark hue of red. Initially quite discreet but classically Syrah nose of darker fruits plus some pleasant funk. Smoke. Medium weight on the palate, faithfully reflecting its origins in northern St. Joseph on decomposed granite. Almost prickly acid. Some funky notes running through the palate also. Seems fully ripe but also initially ungenerous in its delivery of fruit. Chalky but fully resolved tannins. The structure comes more from the acid. Became denser and less lean over 30 minutes. Long but not compellingly so. Completely honest wine. Gutsy serene needing food. My kind of St Joseph but perhaps not to be served to the mother in law. Not for everyone. Two things are very evident - this is by no means yet on the way down and the low sulphur level does influence the wine (as may be the aging on lees). First of twelve. Suggest decanting. Can be kept but likely will not improve. Bought on release. 2011 apparently the last vintage of this.
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2/24/2022 - gbauer wrote:
Great red fruit on the nose. Great pure red fruit and acid on the palate. Still showing young after 12 years. Plenty of stuffing. These will continue to get better.
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3/11/2021 - 2muchwine wrote:
My dear, I fear your horse has a bit of a flatulence problem. We shall see if it passes overnight and revisit tomorrow.
Day 2, less methane, more wine. But still not for the Brett-averse, at least this bottle. Drinkable but not terribly enjoyable.
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5/12/2019 - jcha24 wrote:
Man this is good. Not sure why I don’t buy more texier.
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3/5/2017 - salil wrote: 91 Points
A beautiful showing. On par with previous bottles, showing remarkable purity and finesse with an array of high toned herbal, violet, lavender, and other floral accents around the core of red berried fruit, and a more savoury earthy/mineral character emerging with some time in the glass. Not a whole lot of tannin apparent here, but there's plenty of structure coming from the acidity which gives it a very light, elegant mouthfeel and gives it the sheer refreshment value of a light Beaujolais, though with all the depth and character I'd expect from an excellent Syrah.
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1/28/2017 - Diane (LI) wrote:
Hasn't budged since the last bottle I had a year and a half ago. Still high acid and good fruit.
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12/1/2016 - pren wrote: 89 Points
OK-Good
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10/8/2016 - acyso wrote: 88 Points
The gift of an ex-Connecticut gentleman. Quite a bit of effervescence. The nose is a bit more restrained than I anticipated, and shows mostly a very fruit-forward characteristic, although there is just a slight undercurrent of meatiness to this that I find quite alluring. There's quite some nice acidity to this wine, which is buffered by lots of fruit in both the red and black categories. There's a great dose of black pepper here as well. At the end of the day, this wine, while good, is quite simplistic but is nonetheless a pretty tasty example of syrah.
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2/20/2016 - 5laton wrote:
Still fairly raw and awkward due to youth. Hours of decanting finally brought out a lovely floral clarity, but for my taste this is almost completely unevolved and still needs 3-5 years.
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6/5/2015 - Diane (LI) wrote:
Purest form of Syrah. High acid, deep fruit, bacon fat. Drinking great now. Paired beautifully with my Bolognese sauce.
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3/25/2015 - salil wrote: 92 Points
Superb wine. So polished and graceful with bright red and dark fruit accented by gentle floral and earthy notes. All about purity and finesse with surprisingly gentle, fine grained tannins and most of the structure here coming from the acidity. Drinking remarkably well now, and I'm glad I have more.
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4/29/2012 - Michael Davidson wrote:
Agree with Salil's note below. Dominated by tart fruit. A nice pepper note was present on the nose on day two. Very fresh tasting; great buoyant acidity. Lovely wine, will get better when the earthy elements are in better balance with the fruit.
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4/17/2012 - french16 wrote:
Awkward and disjointed at first, it finally came together after 4 days. Dark fruits (blackberry, blueberry) but fresh with a hint of chocolate. Interesting minerality (like warm stone). Silky with very good acidity. Looks like it needs a few more years. Very promising.
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3/11/2012 - ekenneth wrote: 90 Points
Drank over several nights. The potential is there, but it's a little early to drink this. Good crunchy fruit with a strong herbal quality, licorish, pepper and fruit resembling under-ripe blackberries and black plums at this point.
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1/26/2012 - salil wrote: 91 Points
More open-knit and accessible than the 2009 Texier St. Joseph; this comes across a little lighter and more finessed with the same elegant flavours of red fruits tinged with smoky and peppery accents, but the tannin this vintage isn't as pronounced and there's more acidity here, giving it a greater sense of freshness and lightness. Right now it's still incredibly primary and dominated by its fruit, but I'm looking forward to seeing what'll happen to my other bottles with time.
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