Tasted vis-à-vis Chave, this comes across as well made, more rustic, bigger fruit and certainly fruit-driven; a nice wine, bistro and then some, bring in the lapin à moutarde etc.
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Tapenade, smokey dry cured bacon, garrigue, iron, red plum. Tannins resolved, acid main structural component now. Beautiful with air. Really like this bottle. Not for anyone looking for fruit-driven at this point.
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Medium-bodied, blueberry-fruited, meaty, cinnamon, tangy, nice sweetness-acid balance. At peak. Tastes like a good California Zinfandel (e.g. Ridge Geyserville), but with a much airier texture. Breaks a long streak of disappointing wines for me!
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No 'spikes' of any particular or obvious aroma, just a melange of subtle dried herb, delicate floral and dusty earth aromas. Elegant, almost delicate palate, with an underlying sweet berry note, dry and with some grip. Wine that has moved on from being fruit juice. Other comments made by the tasters included its resemblance to a recently tried Cote Rotie, a slight green character like fresh crushed plant stems, and also that the Syrah fruit could be identified but was not obvious. Beautiful wine.
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Expected this to be "tunneling" but no, it's open. There's nothing fruity about this wine though. Olive tapenade, lead pencil, raw meat and perhaps sour cherries if you must. But overall there is something dirty hanging over this nose. The palate brings plenty of refreshing acidity but still not completely clean. I love my Graillots young, but when they age that dirtyness gets to me in a bad way.
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Extremely strange behaviour of this wine tonight. Quite weak color, old time smell of Barolooak, orange and cardemum. Not one sign of of northern Rhône Syrah. Must have been in deep sleep, or flawed.
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Not quite on par with the 2005's, this one opened up with a very fragrant nose. Initially very perfumey wood, crunchy red fruit, giving way with a little air opening up to bacon fat, more wood, chinese medicinal herbs and good fruit and just very solid. On the palate much the same and perhaps a bit shorter than expected but nothing against the wine. This is well made and worked well with a beef stew.
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It's hard to describe just how good this is. Popped and poured. Purplish garnet/ruby color. The rendered bacon fat and oil cured olive aromas literally jump out of the glass to attack you. Tarry, espresso, licorice, black currant and blackberry in an extremely elegant package. Finishes great and I can see this improving for so many years. The only thing I regret is not owning another case. I read on Squires' Message Board that JL Chave claimed Crozes Hermitage lacks terroir. I think he couldn't be more wrong based on this bottle. Buy all you can.
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Tasted April 28, 2007 at an offline. Opened and served immediately. Garnet color in the glass, slight dusty looking. Nose of bacon, licorice and herbs. Flavors of black licorice, cherries and mint. Medium acidity, medium to firm tannins, medium body. Drink or hold.
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Business Dinner at Bacar (Bacar Restaurant (SF, SOMA)): Deep, dark red color. Incredible nose of red meats, flowers, perfumed aromas. On the palate, the wine shows beautifully balanced and elegant. Not a ball-buster wine, but one that I think will age gracefully and stay extremely food friendly. Just my kind of thing. This was consumed with a panroasted Australian rack of lamb served with mariquita farms vegetables and lamb jus. A match made in heaven.
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11/5/2015 - beatles wrote: 89 Points
Tasted vis-à-vis Chave, this comes across as well made, more rustic, bigger fruit and certainly fruit-driven; a nice wine, bistro and then some, bring in the lapin à moutarde etc.
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11/5/2015 - pbaek wrote:
2004 Rhone Tasting chez Lillelund (Lilleund's home): Syrah driven. Pebbery and spicy. Cool. Good core matter, not lean at all. In a good spot now. Just marginally behind the Chave.
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4/20/2013 - JohnQBoxler wrote:
Tapenade, smokey dry cured bacon, garrigue, iron, red plum. Tannins resolved, acid main structural component now. Beautiful with air. Really like this bottle. Not for anyone looking for fruit-driven at this point.
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2/8/2013 - cooberp Likes this wine: 91 Points
Medium-bodied, blueberry-fruited, meaty, cinnamon, tangy, nice sweetness-acid balance. At peak. Tastes like a good California Zinfandel (e.g. Ridge Geyserville), but with a much airier texture. Breaks a long streak of disappointing wines for me!
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1/31/2012 - Shanta wrote: 93 Points
No 'spikes' of any particular or obvious aroma, just a melange of subtle dried herb, delicate floral and dusty earth aromas. Elegant, almost delicate palate, with an underlying sweet berry note, dry and with some grip. Wine that has moved on from being fruit juice. Other comments made by the tasters included its resemblance to a recently tried Cote Rotie, a slight green character like fresh crushed plant stems, and also that the Syrah fruit could be identified but was not obvious. Beautiful wine.
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12/1/2011 - cinnamon Likes this wine:
Expected this to be "tunneling" but no, it's open. There's nothing fruity about this wine though. Olive tapenade, lead pencil, raw meat and perhaps sour cherries if you must. But overall there is something dirty hanging over this nose. The palate brings plenty of refreshing acidity but still not completely clean. I love my Graillots young, but when they age that dirtyness gets to me in a bad way.
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3/12/2010 - Barbalax wrote:
Extremely strange behaviour of this wine tonight. Quite weak color, old time smell of Barolooak, orange and cardemum. Not one sign of of northern Rhône Syrah. Must have been in deep sleep, or flawed.
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8/28/2009 - TheEngineer wrote: 89 Points
Not quite on par with the 2005's, this one opened up with a very fragrant nose. Initially very perfumey wood, crunchy red fruit, giving way with a little air opening up to bacon fat, more wood, chinese medicinal herbs and good fruit and just very solid. On the palate much the same and perhaps a bit shorter than expected but nothing against the wine. This is well made and worked well with a beef stew.
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2/24/2008 - steffenpelz wrote:
It's hard to describe just how good this is. Popped and poured. Purplish garnet/ruby color. The rendered bacon fat and oil cured olive aromas literally jump out of the glass to attack you. Tarry, espresso, licorice, black currant and blackberry in an extremely elegant package. Finishes great and I can see this improving for so many years. The only thing I regret is not owning another case. I read on Squires' Message Board that JL Chave claimed Crozes Hermitage lacks terroir. I think he couldn't be more wrong based on this bottle. Buy all you can.
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4/28/2007 - wineismylife wrote: 89 Points
Cellar Diminishment & Pizza Party (Winetex' home in Austin, TX): WIML89,NOWA,WS91
Tasted April 28, 2007 at an offline. Opened and served immediately. Garnet color in the glass, slight dusty looking. Nose of bacon, licorice and herbs. Flavors of black licorice, cherries and mint. Medium acidity, medium to firm tannins, medium body. Drink or hold.
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8/1/2006 - steffenpelz wrote: 92 Points
Business Dinner at Bacar (Bacar Restaurant (SF, SOMA)): Deep, dark red color. Incredible nose of red meats, flowers, perfumed aromas. On the palate, the wine shows beautifully balanced and elegant. Not a ball-buster wine, but one that I think will age gracefully and stay extremely food friendly. Just my kind of thing. This was consumed with a panroasted Australian rack of lamb served with mariquita farms vegetables and lamb jus. A match made in heaven.
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