Rubis foncé, presque opaque Nez de fruits noir, viande fumée, cuir Bouche sur le fruit noir, acidité moyenne +, tannins fermes mais agréable. Bel équilibre, longueur moyenne sur le chocolat et le goudron
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Quite serious for a Crozes with lots of depth and structure. There is lovely dark berry fruit along with a smooth, savory texture and tons of crunchy acidity. The finish is still tannic showing subtle notes of smoky spices, olive tapenade, mint and bacon fat. The purity in this wine for the price is really quite amazing and this should be special in another 5-10 years. About a decade ago I had a bottle of the '59 which was fabulous so the track record for aging here kinda defies logic. 92+
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93-95. Has good aromas of leather, Smokey bacon, forest fruits, graphite, garrigue, earth and minty hints. A lovely quite special well oaked wine which is perhaps a little too solid but has got decent length + freshness. 13.5%. Drink in 5-10 yrs. Needs 8-9 hrs aeration. Superb QPR. I got this at around 37 Euros. Needs extra length or depth to be a 95.
First things first, the QPR on this wine is unbelievable. I purchased it at $41 and you're getting a lot of the wine (all things considered - region, producer, etc) at the price. But diving into the wine itself, this is one of the best examples of Jaboulet Crozes-Hermitage on the market. The vintage itself is lauded, but this stands out particularly well within the vintage. Having tried Alain Graillot's Crozes-Hermitage from 2015 recently, this felt like it had far more life left in it. The nose itself was captivating, creating a great contrast between scents of pepper and graphite alongside créme de cassis and black cherries. Alongside those were hints of menthol and coffee too. The palate itself opened up to be dominated by tertiary qualities on the upfront, boasting tobacco and cedar wood with hints of licorice before the mid-palate brought in the signature cola note I love in Crozes-Hermitage alongside blackberries and raspberries. The finish itself added some weight to the wine with notes of meat and spices lingering across good acidity and grippy tannins. This is at the start of its peak drinking window. 91++
Interesting nose of campfire smoke, grilled switches of garden herbs such as rosemary and thyme as well as some baked black cherries. Medium-bodied, this is light but with good grip of tannins and moderately high acidity. Probably best now and over the next 2-3 years but should last longer. 91
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Tasted after 1 hour of air. Smoked meats on the nose. Dry dusty tannins. Sweet stewed plums. Good spice. Big pop on the mid palate. Very long finish. An excellent wine.
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Had to decant for 2 hours before the acidity dropped but afterward the fruit was starting to show. Blackberries and earth and a smooth finish. Will revisit my other bottles in 2-3 years!
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Very dark red, no visibility. Bacon fat and heavy charcuterie on the nose. Dark fruit, a minty note - do they use whole stems? Mouthfilling, quite acidic, good grip. Surprisingly good - it doesn’t always have to be Cote Rotie of Hermitage.
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PnP and was quite open not needing to be decanted. Primarily red and black fruit flavours with a little spice / pepper at the back. Very enjoyable but still plenty of development to happen.
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Purple-ish color. Nose has lots of olive tapenade, savory meat and pepper, and just a little cherry. Palate is initially very fruity but mid to finish has lots of earthy and savory notes. Slightly tart red fruits, blueberries, leather, thyme, and nice acidity and lots of minerality. Long and nice finish, albeit not the most complex one. Excellent wine!
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Mostly black fruit, restrained on the nose and palate. Tried first as a PNP, with a very restrained, tight effect and too tannic. Decanted and tried again at 1, 2 and 4 hours. Definitely better at 2 and maybe better at 4. With time the acidity and tannins felt more in balance with the fruit, which opened up a bit. Still nothing very enjoyable or memorable.
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I didn’t want to like this. Since the Frey takeover I’ve been sceptical of the modern, polished style. However, although ripe and well made, I feel that given maybe 5 years or more this might actually start to show some complexity true to proper Rhône Syrah. Don’t get me wrong - it’s no ‘99, but my guard is dropping ..
Tasted at EMW Grand Tasting. A wine I’m familiar with and my notes are similar to previous ones. Smoky Bacon, garrigue, blackberry, meaty character, spices, creamy texture and good tannin structure. Delicious aroma and finish. Screams Syrah. Elegant and more full bodied than the Mule Noire.
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Decanted 2 hours before serving. Deep purple. At first, a blast of ripe blueberry fruit with pine needles in the background. More herbs surfaced in the nose over time. Medium to full bodied, very lush, clean, and polished. Fruit driven like New World Syrah with some wood showing. As with the aromas, this gradually became more complex and smoky in the glass. I must say that I am left somewhat confused about where this is going. Opened too early or will this always be a straightforward, modern style fruit bomb?
Decanted 2 hours. Medium opaque dark red. At first a lot of fruit, some complexity, good grib. After 3 hours more mellow, fruit not as powerfull, still good fruit, dark berries, prunes. Medium to long finish. Very nice.
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This did not meet my expectations... maybe they were too high_
Bramberry/figs, meat (smoked?) with prunes and beetroot. Some menthol notes and garrique and rough tannins. Already showing tertiary notes which was a surprise leading to a slightly hollow mid-palate where this bottle does not warrant any further aging.
It's not defective, just much further gone than expected... could it be mild heat damage? Next bottle will tell.. Glass: Riedel Veloce Syrah
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Fantastisk Crozes! Kødfuld og frugtig vin, der er seriøs og absolut i toppen af appellationen. I næsen er man klart i Nordrhône. Let reserveret med rødt velhængt kød, stald, ymer, brombær, mørke kirsebær, blåbær samt garrique og hvid peber. I munden er vinen ren, stringent og præcis i udtrykket. Mørke bær og provancekrydderi i en mellemlang til lang eftersmag. Drikker rigtig godt nu med en time i karaflen, men ingen hast +5-8 år.
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A good crozes from a great year. In the glass it proves that Crozes is not Hermitage. A bit pruney and clipped. Lacks perfume and finesse. We had two bottles on the table this one and a bottle of Walter Hundsruck spatburgunder 2015 (aromatic and fine)…. Why not? Adding a dollup of the spatburgunder to this syrah, resulted in a much better wine. It became fragrant, the pruneyness resided, the wine found balance. The power made sense now. My wife said I was out of my mind to mix both wines. But the wine in the glass did not lie. 88 pts without the spat, 92 with…
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I should have read my tasting note on this wine which suggested decanting if drinking now. I did not heed my own advice as this was a PnP. This just doesn’t stay true to its Syrah varietal roots and is a touch extracted and pruney. Maybe a touch of volitile acidity? I’ve had great bottles from this vineyard and producer, just not from the 2015 vintage. Disappointing. I’m thinking it may have opened up had I decanted it???
Gorgeous, elegant, nice and fruity, but also clearly a savory and peppery Syrah. Called it blind as 2015 Northern Rhone, either Crozes or St. Joseph. This will continue to develop positively for at least a few more years. Lovely stuff, Jaboulet seems to get better and better every time I taste them.
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Bon crozes qui arrive sur son plateau de degustation. Mure, tapenade, un peu viandeux, longueur moyenne-courte, la prochaine dans 2-3 ans. Ca commence a bien se boire.
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2 halves opened, tasted and combined with a few hour decant. Very animalistic and savoury. Olives and meat on nose, with some fruit poking through. Medium/low tannins. Interesting, but not a repeat buy for me.
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Dark ruby red with lighter edge. Generous nose of ripe dark fruits, pepper, leather and tobacco. Well balance between firm tannins and juicy backbone - good grip but silky touch. Super value!
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Beautiful fruit and a hint of pepper on the nose when I first opened. Quite different day 2 on the nose, more like tapenade with some noticeable alcohol. Lots of acidity, with tannins and blue fruit coming out as well. Tannins dominate the finish. Enjoyable with Costco chicken. Am thinking there is some bottle variation with this wine based on the notes.
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Perfect syrah character and great with grilled food. I had a glass only and will try to remember to update what goes on with the rest of the bottle. Magnificent tannins, sufficient dark fruit, it's all there.
Glad nationaldag!
Edid: Two days after being recorked the wine is more flirty or crowd-pleasing as the voluminous blackness is somewhat softened and accompanied by a touch of sweetish violet.
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A lot of comments here seem surprisingly sniffy to me. Had one of these this evening that was just as good as I expected from the previous 9 that I have had since buying a dozen in 2017. Colour very good, full nose, plenty of fruit. Sure, it's not an Hermitage but for its price it is honest and reliable in my opinion. I wonder whether many reviewers here have been drinking ones they bought from a shop rather than have kept themselves in controlled conditions - maybe that's the problem with so many apparently flawed bottles reported.
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When a professional critic scores this 3 points from perfection and it falls Well short they do themselves a disservice. Makes me wonder if the Domaine poured the same wine to the critic that we the public get. Scoring this along the lines of an Ampuis or La La’s is just crazy talk. Their Wine Critic Guild ID Card should be temporarily suspended. Lol, Nose lacks perceivable fruit, dog paw, Mushroom (aka, wet cardboard), Lemon, Green peppercorns, mineral lift. On palate, tannins are still grippy and moisture wicking but, they are powdery fine and integrating. Starting to soften and loose some of its angles. Acidity better integrated then 5 years back but, still robust. Fruits beginning to peek through Black currant and morello cherry. Still dominated by gravelly terroir. Hints of smoke and cured meats. Muscular and full bodied this needs a rich fatty meal, roast leg of lamb or braised meats. Enjoyed over 2 days served with a slight chill. It’s in a good place right now to try if you have several bottles on hand otherwise give it another 2-3 years in cold storage. Purchased upon release and stored accordingly. Day 2 after vacuum cold storage acidity more pronounced and sharp with metallic taste developing. Generous amount of granular sediment… Na zdrowie
Softer profile of blue and black fruit on the nose supported by olive tapenade, pencil shavings, and licorice. Similar muted notes on the palate with gentle, velvety tannins and a mild umami/mushroom note on the finish. Not as robust as I’d otherwise like to see from a Northern Rhone.
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PnP and drank over a period of 4 hours. Started opening up around the 2-hour mark and was excellent towards the last hour. The drinkability has improved drastically compared to the previous bottle I had a year ago. Flavors of blackberry, dark fruit, spice, and earth/mineral notes. Exceptionally smooth, balanced, and drinks very well today with the potential for aging more. Look forward to drinking the rest of my bottles over the next few years! Great quality!
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4hr decant opened it up, nearly black, dark fruits, good acidity, average finish, should improve with more time in the bottle or at least not need as much time to open up. Great with rack of lamb & roasties. 90+/-
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Chêne, cuir, viande séchée au nez. Bouche souple, puissance moyenne, acidité moyenne, tannins modérés. Pas très fruité, légèrement épicé, boisé bien intégré. J’aurais aimé un peu plus de poivre. Belle tenue et belle équilibre d’ensemble. Le vin me semble prêt à boire et tiendra la route jusqu’à la fin de la décennie, mais pas beaucoup plus selon moi. 91
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Very smooth. Quite a lot of blackcurrent on the nose, oak and leather. Nice tannins and the acidity balanced very well to the fruit. Still has potential. Paired with stuffed roasted chicken with garlic confit hummus and bread. Than went exceptionally wll.
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From a magnum, wine has shed some of its infancy tannins even though that there is still plenty left. Nose has opened with notes of vanilla, mocha, leather and chalk. Very length, paired well with hard cheeses. Still needs time. Try again in 2025, will hold until 2035.
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I’d previously enjoyed the 2016 vintage of this wine a little over a year ago, and although very good, this is far superior in terms of readiness, drinkability, and enjoyment. Decanted and paired with leftover Jambalaya. Immediately approachable, showing smokey blackberry, cooked meat, anise, black licorice, black olive, black cherry and black charred earth with a hint of rocky granite. Although in development, tannins, oak, fruits and acidity are well on their way toward full integration. Finishes strong and long. Ready to drink now, but will most likely improve with further cellaring. Drink through 2030+. Excellent!
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Two-hour decant and consumed over the next hour. Medium-bodied with earthy flavors (soil, garrigue) and mild black fruits. While more Syrah-like than the bottle from March 2021, this is still rather restrained but both my wife and I enjoyed it. Definitely changed since the last bottle, so I'll continue to age the remaining bottles.
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Wonderful wine. Opaque deep purple. Heavy espresso, secondarily soil/mushroom on the nose. Primarily mushroom on the palate. Secondarily espresso, orange. Very interesting wine but not much complexity.
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Consistent tasting note from my last one in November 2021. This is getting better and starting to become a more interesting and enjoyable tasting experience. I still wish it had more secondary notes. Decant if drinking now.
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This didn't excite me... surprisingly ready, textbook Syrah, lacking much complexity or character. I think I'd have preferred either more grip and bite or more tertiary development, so suggest holding a couple of years.
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Dark and heavy, but not at all syrupy. Hints of plum and earth and maybe coffee grounds. As others have noted, flavors are definitely muted and I was a bit disappointed in that I expected more complexity. There's a bite of something -- either pepper or high alcohol, but it's only 13.5%. Tannins are low, but still noticeable and not grippy. Took a couple of hours to start showing properly, so I suspect there's plenty of life left in this.
Slightly disappointed in its showing. The fruit was very much the focus of the wine, with the tannins being almost entirely broken down, and the structure hiding a bit. I think it was slightly shut down, and will probably need a little more time to come around properly.
Purple with a little garnet. Closed some today. Interesting nose and taste. Dark fruit, a little pepper, and more. Maybe just another year and it will open.
Decanted 1 hour. Is fine to drink now, no tannin grip to speak of. Nice but without much depth. Was hoping for more based on other reviews. Not great qpr.
A really lovely and surprisingly open showing, despite being popped and poured. Lovely nose, full of blue fruit and musky violets. Good acidity, very food-friendly, lots of promise for further development.
Blackberries, pencil shavings, some earth, bits of sesame, and sage on the nose. It’s a nuanced nose that’s super dense. The palate has more sesame, black pepper, bits of blackberry. Nice length and precision. It’s good, but it needs to open up still, it felt dense and wound tight — this is one to hold and drink.
Should you be interested, I’ve uploaded info for this vintage which you can peruse at your leisure. 😉
≈2 hrs slow ox, though some VERY fine sediment was in the bottom of Day 2's final glass; Private Preserve used after Day 1.
N: FRAGRANT blkberries, poss blk rasps, with a distinct spiciness, notes of wet stones, poss some blk pepper, & hints of something floral
P: LM body; NICE, elegant, almost swtish frt met by a bit of astringent pucker which SEAMLESSLY transitions into a LONG, beautifully balanced, very, VERY slightly tart finish which firms with its acidity rather than with its almost negligible tannins. FABULOUS solo, ALMOST as good with the Chx Burrito (Ancho's) & Sharp Cheddar Cheese, though poss one has to enjoy a style atypical for the New World to say that? 🤔
// Day 2: Aromas of blk pepper, poss Indian spices, then blkberries; P seems to have held acceptably, working just fine with the night's Thanksgiving leftovers, though at least one relative, while enjoying the wine, felt it too substantive for the pairing.
// ∑: My EXC (92,93/100 using that metric), arguably the higher, + should make its 10th w/o difficulty, probably longer, as I've found that wines of SUCH balance & relatively low alcohol can easily outlive expectations, though one certainly CAN'T be acid aversive for THAT to be the case. 😉 13.5% ABV
Tasted after 90 minutes of air. Dark blue fruits and savory notes. Firm tannins. Plenty of midpalate lift. The finish goes on and on. Great balance. Very nice effort.
Starting to come into its own. Leaner than I was expecting and while it doesn’t scream Syrah and needs coaxing from the glass, it is a lovely bottle of wine. Very balanced. Decanted for 1 hour. I expect it will take on more secondary character in 2-3 more years.
Pop and pour: Dark saturated color. Ripe plum, leather, black minerals, mint and black pepper on the nose. Black licorice emerges with air. Mouth watering acidity on the finish. Very full front to mid palate. Plums, ripe strawberries (with a dash of balsamic), orange rind and white pepper on the finish. Delicious! After a night a night in the fridge (vacuum sealed) the wine really came together. Incredible integrated and balanced - some of the acidity calmed down into a very well-balanced wine. Combination of dark fruit and mineralogy, stunning.
Decanted one hour. This has something for everyone. Complex blue fruit and black currant aromas with herbs and some olives. Medium-to-full bodied black fruits,, herbs, some minerality but relatively no hard edges. Concentrated, but not overdone in any way - this is highly approachable now, yet seems to have the complexity for mid-term aging. QPR champ, also! 91+
Last bottle, out of three, and this had the most secondary notes. But I think it still has life. Drink or hold. 90 and 91 I gave my other bottles and that seems about right. A good wine.
Decanted for an hour. Perfect example of a lean Syrah from the Rhone Valley. Dark fruit, cassis and a little oak on the nose. On the palette there's good acidity ,present tannins and peppery notes you might expect. This makes an excellent food wine. Drinking really well now, though I suspect might get better in a year or two
1.5L. Andouzed (uncorked but not decanted) for 24 hours. Very pleasant red and black fruit, toast, tobacco and good balancing acidity. At this point too much acidity to be mistaken for California as this vintage has been accused of, but lacks the green olive and tar typical of a C-H syrah. Needs more time to develop.
Fine showing tonight. Surerely this is somewhat polished, not the wine, that this once was, but is a better than solid crozes and the local character shines through with herbs, pepper, black fruit, olives. Still young certainly. #Atelier33
Had this after Alain Voge 2012 VV and this was way more powerful and bold (and stylistically I clearly preferred the Voge). Pepper, olives, meat, kirsch and bread yeast on the nose. Good strong acidity, but the palate is not really giving. Tannic structure is for me ok to enjoy it right now. The wines finish is medium. Nevertheless, for my taste this is distinctly young and needing a decant or more time in the cellar. I had a coravin sample so not the time to sit and enjoy. I see this evolving nicely, but this doesn't seem to rock me as it seems to rock others. I will hold on to my bottles for 5 years before opening the rest.
Excellent! Tasted great the first night and then retreated into the bottle for a long time the second. Decanted with little in the way of residue. A very solid example of Crozes-Hermitage. Relative to California Syrah, this is subtle in its expression. Dark, with solid fruit. Admirable cleanliness of style with excellent mouthfeel. A bargain wine that's showing very well now.
Keep holding this. Decanted for 5 hours and consumed over an hour. A sample at open showed the decant was a good thing. After decanting, blackberries and black cherries dominated without the pepper I'd hoped to find. Overall it was milder than expected and has high acidity. Paired with leg of lamb and I am glad to have additional bottles. The recommend start date of 2023 is probably correct.
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{?3rd purchased on release, PopNPour from cellar} Super wine not yet remotely near being at peak. Reeks of ripe but balanced Syrah fruit, medium weight but big presence like a fine Burgundy, fine tannins, such balance! 92-94 tonight.
Nose is unmistakably Syrah with the herbal, meaty, dark fruit smell.. That taste is great... deep red/black fruit,garrigue, black pepper, terroir, Nice grippy tannins, some mineral lift...just an excellent Syrah... Definitely French.....I think a few more years will make it even better as the tannins lighten up...well balanced wine..
Flat out delicious syrah. Compares favorably to much more costly hermitage, and I would say it has just now entered its window, for at least the next five years.
Really very good, but even after 2-3 hours in the decanter and with some time in the glass it wasn't particularly complex or engaging. Very nice, went very well with dinner (Zabuton steak - Snake River Farms American Wagyu, sous vide then cast iron, if you wanted to know). It's possible this is in a little closed phase. I figure wait a couple years for the next one. I think slumber will do this some good.
Avec un petit 2 heures de carafe, WOW, ce vin sort en queue de paon. Complexe et intense, vraiment extra. Mures, bleuets, poivre, olives et viandes fumée. Les tannins sont fins et la finale hyper longue et sans accroc. C`est hyper gouleyant avec un côté minéral qui le rend fort délicieux. Excellent.
Give this wine a long and careful decanting. There are solids that need to be remove. Without enough air exposure, this wine will seem to be a pleasant, somewhat smooth and simple wine with notes of dark fruits. With sufficient time (about 2-3 hours) in a decanter it blossoms into a wonderful wine experience that is uniquely Northern Rhone. I found complexity, great mouthfeel, and depth of flavors that hardly compares to our first tastes.
This seriously might be one of my favorite wines. It’s not the best I’ve ever had but it’s a consistently delicious drink and it’s always gone in a flash.
my last of 4 bottles of this vintage, and a little disappointing. Could it have already been over the hill? Notes of Cedar with a pleasing acidity. I've had a few vintages of this cuvee and this is the first bottle that I was able to wait a few years to open and drink.
Aerated for 4 hours in bottle. Deep color but not quite opaque. Strong initial whiff of olive, then candied black fruit. Medium weight but nice ripe sappy feel. Ripe, tangy boysenberry with an earthy base and excellent acidity. Roundly tannic. Quite beautiful depth and purity of fruit, but still waiting for more complexity to arrive.
Yet another outstanding offering from the extraordinary Northern Rhone 2015 vintage where Syrah really shines. If you bought across the board in this vintage you will most certainly be happy with your foresight to do so. All things considered this a compelling, hedonistic, full throttle wine that punches well above its weight, inky black , mouth filling but never heavy, juicy with great precision and zero excessive heat. Give this some respect a 3 to 4 hour decant will reveal a wine of majestic beauty. Enjoy the fruit now but you can be assured this has a long life ahead. An extra point for exceptional value and three cheers for a wine at only 13.5 ABV.
Brought this wine to celebrate the union of my brother from another mother and his charming bride.
It showed beautifully! The wine has shed considerable baby fat, and now features high-tension, metallic ore-like grip, along with blue fruit elements, peppercorns, bacon fat, herbs, coal, smoke, and graphite. Medium plus acid, and subtle tannic grip. The oak treatment, which was a little heavier than it needed to be, is on its way toward solid integration.
Likely to enter a square drinking window in seven to ten years, and still there will be no hurry.
A great and unforgettable day to enjoy a great wine! 94-95.
Decanted 2 hours. Drank over 2 days. In the fridge, second day the best. Need air at this stage. First of 6 bottles. Will wait some years for the next one. Medium opaque dark red. Nice fruit, some complexity, good grib. The finish is not as long as expected. Very nice and will improve.
Bu en peu après AMPUIS 2015 et celui-ci n'a pas trop à tarir, c'est fabuleux, C'est enchanteur, pas mal de matière, du bacon et de la viande fumée, des olives et du poivre avec des mures et des violettes. Super long et persistant, avec une finale qui donne des relents minéraux. Vraiment EXCELLENT, un RQP ce 2015 qui en donne pas mal en ce moment mais qui a aussi un bon potentiel pour être encore mieux avec le temps.
This wine needs lots of time (hours) to open up! Definitely north Rhone in nature with mineral and fruit notes. Nice mouthfeel. After 6 hours it revealed excellent red fruits and a sweet nose. Nice purity.
Lots of good potential here - though this was reticent on the nose with a four-hour decant, with notes of pine and cherries with a bit of oregano, it is nicely detailed on the palate, if not hugely expressive, with good structure and acid. Worked very well with marinated flank steak though of course it needs more time , ideally another 5-10 years, to hit peak. Great value.
3-4 hour decant and then I get sloeberries, lingonberries and plum. Tobacco and pepper comes around as well. It's good now and has life in it. Maybe even get better? 90.
Well, opened with the Jaboulet corkscrew from their wine bar in Tain la Hermitage, so was expecting something better. Monolithic, not sweet , oaky, just no sense of place, or that of Syrah. Going thru a dumb period I hope. Hope the next bottle is on point. An additional note, the wine was decanted and returned to bottle an hour before drinking...
Inky purple wine. Big, viscous. Black fruit nose, but taste is more garrigue, tobacco and spice. Tannin is present and still a bit pokey... looking forward to it mellowing in a few years
Way too young. I opened on Friday and decanted 2 hours. It was tannic and closed so I audibled to a different wine for dinner and funneled this back in to the bottle and vacu-vinned. Checked in on Saturday and it hadn't evolved from Friday. Opened again on Sunday and it was still closed. Decanted for an hour and ate with a steak. Scoring off of Sunday.
After long wait it was ready to drink. Muted nose, red fruited, hint of pepper. Medium body. Very smooth at this point. Medium finish.
Tasted at end of night, after 6.5 hours in decanter. Meat, dried red fruit, and vanilla nose. Pleasant sour cherry, slight bakers chocolate, firm tannins. Good wine, needs to mature.
Motz notes describe EXACTLY our experience. We drank over 2 days with the same experience. Love jaboulet and so happy they make a wine that is remotely a daily drinker.
Good, but not great, wine. It was monolithic & somewhat simple, lacking layers & complexity. PNP from magnum so I'm thinking it was opened too young with not enough time to breath to open up. I suspect with more age & decant time, it would be much better.
Backwards purple tight mass today — needs many years to unfurl. Blind I’d never be able to place the terroir. But perhaps, given a read of others’ notes and acclaim, I received an unusual bottle. No score.
Deep-to-opaque crimson in color, this Syrah is packed with black and blue fruit that is accented with savory herbs, smoked meat, dry earth, cedar and black olives. Full-bodied, freshly acidic and with nicely woven alcohol (listed as 13.5%), it wraps its flavors with silky tannins and a modicum of spicy oak. Dense on the middle palate and concluding with impressive length, this Crozes stands high above most of its peers. The fruit and structure are in place to ensure that this well-priced wine will reach its 20th birthday with grace. Drink now-2035.
88 points today, but 92+ in 3-5 years. It is just too young right now to show its true potential and the tannin is taught and grippy. However, the fruit, structure, and balance suggests it will get better with age.
Tasted over two days. This needs to breathe for several hours to show its best. Indeed, a 10 to 12 hour decant would do it no harm. Tasty and well rounded on the first day, yet generally closed. The half bottle we consumed on this day was essentially wasted, a fact established by the beauty it showed on the second.
On this day, the wine featured strong varietal typicity, including saturated blue, purple, and black berries, assorted meat roasting herbs, intense peppercorn, coal and mineral depth. Delightfully pretty. Medium plus to high acid and light yet effusive tannins provide firm structure and lift. The layers, range, and overarching harmony made for a spectacularly enjoyable experience.
Over the last fifteen months, the wine has turned somewhat reticent, shifting away from fruit forwardness. It now leans toward varietal expressiveness and the traditional elements of North Rhone Syrah. Delicious!
Still very young. Decanted for 2.5 hours. Improved significantly with decanting. This wine needs more cellar time to reach its full potential. Deep inky purple. Spice, cinnamon, pepper. Lots of potential.
Encore une fois excellent...jeune mais fort approchable. Me reste encore pas mal de bouteilles format 750ml...mes magnums font dodo pour la longue garde (10-15ans).
I had this blind at a friend's house ; my wife loved it , I was not so keen at this stage. It is certainly v young but has boatloads of potential.
It is not yet in sync ; great flavour , biting tannin, aren't singing yet in chorus with the beautiful acidity. I am really just scaremongering here , because I have no doubt at all that this wine will , develop, refine, and blossom into a star. Deep , deep Rhone favourites fill the senses ; it is archetypal in such a good way .
Half Bottle. This is profound, juvenile and a bit drying. Has muted meaty + earthy aromas of smoky bacon, chalk, peppery blackberries, black olives, funk and tar. Its medium to full bodied multi-dimensional unfruity peppery black fruits palate has nice acidity. Ends longish, blackfruited and mouth puckering. 13.5%. Lay down 5-10 years to sort out the tannins and flesh out. Needs 7-8 hrs aeration.
Tasted at Brasserie de L’Est in Lyon with dinner that was highlighted by a glass of this wine being spilled all over my 15 year old daughter, the look on her face was priceless. Nonetheless the wine was as expected. A little richer and more fruit forward than the examples I remember from the 1980’s and 1990’s which I very much enjoyed. It had the signature pepper, spice and black fruit notes and a reasonably long finish. Good now but I suspect it still has room to improve with some additional bottle age.
Very fine Syrah, enjoyable right out of the bottle but will likely age well for five or more years. Well balanced and delicious with tonight's Copper River sockeye salmon. Yum.
Fruit forward with delightful aromatics, appropriate acidity and tannins. Very enjoyable now.
A serious wine! Has full aromas of cedary blackberries, licorice, black olives, light spice underbrush and minerals. Its solid medium bodied to full bodied fresh lightly stony and peppery black fruits near outstandingly concentrated palate ends longish and a bit drying. 13.5%. Needs 6-7 hrs+ aeration. V.young. Lay down 10-15 years+.
P&P....Case in storage and saw this retail for same price. Chance to test drive. Dark in the glass, thile the floral, fruit deliciousness jumps into the air. Just bit of funk. Super svelte mouth feel. Loads tangy fruit. Pepper, green pepper, some oak, tar, blood, wet stones. Delicious young stuff. Untamed. Good future.
After nearly four hours opened. Last glass. This is gained weight. Nose is more classic Hermitage now, stinky dirty bloody stony. Weighty, dryish, drying scaping tannins, puckering youth, peppering fruit. Some green notes. This is really lacking that Aussie ripeness you get so much of in Asia, this will just get more complex...more savory.
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Olives. Wet rocks. Black fruits. Indian spice. Hints of oak, cedar, plum and licorice. Excellent Syrah for the price point. Maybe drank too early. Will invest in a few more bottles to see how this changes.
Dark ruby. Deep and rather dense fruit. Earthy, meaty. All appears in balance, but at this point, it was for us surprisingly monolithic, with little development over four nights of tasting. We assume that age will contribute complexity.
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Encore une fois, superbe Rhone Nord en jeunesse pour environ 40$, pas étonnant qu'il fut SOLD OUT en peu de temps à la SAQ. Ici on parle d'un vrai RQP pour moi et bien devant certains Espagnols qui sont 15-20$ de plus, y'a pas photo, celui-ci est loin devant. En carafe pour 3 heures car le premier verre bu tranquilement était de mieux en mieux avec l'air, donc le reste de la bouteille a été mis en carafe! Beau nez frais et complexe sur les fruits rouge, les herbes, la garigue, de la fumée et de la viande, superbe. En bouche, c'est de la soie et un superbe équilibre entre la densité et le raffinement. Des mures et des bleuets avec du bacon et du poivre. L'acidité lui donne une belle tension et la finale sans accroc est hyper longue et veloutée. C'est minéral et digeste tout en étant musclé et fort gouteux. Un superbe vin, là en ce moment, qui en donne beaucoup et qui en donnera encore 15-20, 25 possiblement. Excellent sur toute la ligne.
First of 9 bottles purchased. Decanted - as soon as I popped the cork, the bouquet shot out of the bottle. Spice and flowers on the nose. In the mouth, fruit comes on strong, and then subsides into a shyer mid palate. Good finish, with just a touch of tartness. I tasted more red fruit than blue. Wine is young - my sense is this will age well over a 15 year curve and get better with time. 92 points with possibly a few more points of future upside.
Meaty, herbal, dark fruit nose.. Tongue is boysenberry, herbs, garrigue, tannin finish... Needs more time but enough complexity and flavor to evolve to something bettter than it is now..
8th Annual Holiday Dinner and Cellar Raid - A Month Late (Naperville, IL): Part of wine dinner and cellar raid so did not take detailed notes. Had this about 6 weeks ago and was blown away. I was happy that someone chose this as I have been raving about 2015 N Rhones. Went up against some serious wines and was incredible.
Aroma: sweet dark berries, tea, cured meat, blueberries, vanilla. Palate: spicy ripe berry flavors with notes of vanilla, meat, minerals and a touch of herbs. Nicely complex. Mid-weight, moderate acidity, moderate tannin.
Seconde bouteille...un cas de caisse, une 2ième pour moi! Voila une belle bouteille, c`est bon là et pourra s`améliorer avec le temps en cave, SUPERBE! Pour 45$ environ, un très beau RQP...et ça part vite. Beau nez, racée et complexe, des bleuets, de la viande, un peu de fumée et des épices avec ce petit côté floral, vraiment beau. En bouche, WOW, c`est suave et bien approchable. Des mures et du cassis avec une belle concentration et complexité. De l`anis et des minéraux avec du poivre. Belle tension et énergie avec des tannins étoffés et une finale raffinée sans fin. Que du bon ici. PS: Pour environ 90$ le Magnum, 3 dans la cave pour revoir dans 10ans, un sure bet!
This is a wine on its way up over the next five years or so. Really lovely. The nose is gorgeous - black cherry, stone, horse blanket and spice cake. In the mouth the wine is surprisingly light-bodied but the flavors are not light - they are deep, black cherry, black raspberry with a lovely minerality. The wine finishes long, with a peppery and black fruit finish that lingers lovingly for 30 - 45 seconds. I cannot wait to drink these in another 3 - 8 years.
Very classic and yes I can appreciate the reviews suggesting it is built for the long haul. Good balance of fruit and meaty notes, with pasty blackberry compote
Early test drive after 6 hours of aeration in the bottle. Deep ruby, but not opaque or thick. Early black olive and rather pungent fennel, but then after letting it sit open, faint floral notes and more of the typical black fruit and anise. Medium weight, clean, good intensity, fine ripe fruit with excellent soil and bolstering acidity. Moderately tannic finish. Promising wine that I'd personally be inclined to revisit 6 or 8 years down the road. I get the sense that this is being made in a more approachable style than the Thalabert of old (I'm thinking of the 1978 and 1990, for example, both of which drank beautifully for over 20 years), but this still should last and age very well.
Very good, has good juicy ripe fruit but is toned down and balanced with some meaty tones as well as chilled blueberries and smoke. Sleek Syrah that was quite good with food now but has potential to age for sure.
Very big wine for Crozes-Hermitage. Has the typical dustyness of the region, but very big, mouthfilling fruit. I quite liked it, but i had hoped for something slightly more elegant for the food i had.
Got a hold of a few of these on auction for a great price but searching for anything 2015 N Rhone and I was shocked at the pro scores and the CT ratings. Finally arrived today and I couldn't wait to pop one open. I gave it about an hour decant but tried a taste upon open. Not revealing too much beside just being delicious. After an hour, this is so subtle, so juicy, and so damn delicious. Gorgeous balance between old and new world, perhaps the fruit of the new world without being nearly over the top, and the subtle old world Syrah characteristics that California wines struggle to replicate. Very Burgundian style with a nice tannic grip. This will last decades and I will tuck at least three bottles away and hopefully not touch them for ten years, though I think I will still have to try one more soon to make sure my tasting notes are accurate.
Textbook ; a Rhone of body, breeding, and class. Slumbering in a simple tannic sea at present, this wine has decades ahead wherein the massive potential will surely develop into complexity and pleasure. We have 5 bottles remaining and I see no need to touch, test or taste them again for 10 years when the rewards will be amazing.
There is quite simply nothing to chance in this wine, as it will be sublime.
My second bottle in six months. Very good, but it needs a lot of air. The first sips were watery and thin, 45 minutes later it started to show very well.
Bu en succ. Un vin immense, un aubaine à ce prix! Un autre example de la grandeur de 2015 en Rhone Nord...6 bouteilles en cave et je me retiens! Le vin était en carafe depuis le matin, donc un bon 4 heures. Un nez dense et pure sur les cerises et les mures avec de la sauge et de la fumée avec un brin d'olive et de viande. En bouche, de la soie et fort complexe. Des mures, du bacon, du lard et un peu de tapenade sur un fond florale. Aucune lourdeur, une belle impression de fraicheur et de minéraux. Les tannins sont fins t la finale hyper longue et veloutée, rien n'accroche. Un vin qui démontre une belle tension et un bel équilibre. Superbe en ce moment et jusqu'ou il ira...on pourra le suivre! PS: You heard it here first...AGAIN!
Just an amazing wine! Structure, acidity, we’ll balanced fruit and leathery earthy notes. Good ageability. This wine will continue to develop nicely in the bottle for 10-15 years.
This wine is delicious. So smooth and yummy. If you have never tried the Syrah from this region you need to do so. It’s not like the Syrah from CA; it’s a subtle, kinder and gentler variation that testifies to what terroir and climate can donto the same varietal.
P: Med body; Very NICE frt met (fairly quickly) by an astringent pucker, but without EVER losing touch with the frt as it fairly seamlessly transitions into quite a LONG, tangy, very, VERY slightly bitter finish with an ELEGANT swtness to the very, VERY fine tannins. EXQUISITE! Needs/DESERVES through '21, then...? My EXC/EXC+. 97 pts Jeb Dunnuck, 94 Vinous (Raynolds) & Jeff Leve, 93+ WA, 93 Suckling. & 91 John Gilman. [Other than 1 outlier @$32.99, this vendor's $35.95 is at the HEAD of wine-searcher's large "class"!]
I also have consistent TNs on 4/21, 5/25, 5/26, & 7/14/18 for this potential masterpiece. ;)
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I had yet to try the 2015 Domaine de Thalabert when I noticed a bottle staring at me on the shelf at La Buvette so, naturally, I had to grab it. Popped and poured; served on the spot with Boeuf Bourgogne and Raclette with Paris Ham. Tightly wound at this stage but there’s a lot to like already. Blackberries, violets and black pepper on the nose. Blackberries, spices, savory smoked meat and minerals that suggested a dried blood-like quality on the palate. Firm but fine tannins. This bottle was very well liked by our crew and worked very well with our meal. I’m pleased to have some in my cellar.
Certainly suggests N. Rhone, with its nicely savory black fruit. Not horribly oaky, but showed enough wood that it seemed muddled and blurry to me, lacking definition and distinction. This wine got crazy critical reviews, and I don't get that at all.
This rides a striking line between ripeness and balance. The bouquet, attack, and middle feature a sumptuous forest berry amalgam (red, purple, and black), delightfully sweet and compellingly interwoven with the wine's lush tannins. The middle, back, and finish showcase place, even if partially shrouded behind the effusive berry medley. Indeed, at the transition from middle to back, the wine features green and cracked peppercorns, assorted olives, meatiness, scorched earth, and mineral ores. Ultra-charming and bordering on the ethereal, I do not recall tasting a more lush, fruit-forward, structured, and balanced North Rhone Syrah. And, even with all the fruit, this remains a wine of place, which adds to its uniqueness. The berry essences may well fade with time, revealing the wine's underlying substance. Likely to evolve for no less than a decade, twelve to fifteen years seems safe, and it might improve. 93-95.
At first pop, astringency and tart, vaguely red fruit at the forefront. Decanted about six hours, and this deepened, smoke accents came out, more blackberry. Medium bodied, lingering finish. Clean.
P: Med body; NICE frt met by puckerish astringency which never TOTALLY overwhelms the initial frt as it fairly seamlessly transitions into the very LONG finish with hints of swtness to the dusty tannins. Noticing at least the BEGINNINGS (since 5/26/2018) of it shutting down? My EXC-/EXC. 97 pts Jeb Dunnuck, 94 Vinous & Jeff Leve, 93+ WA, and 93 Suckling. [This vendor's $35.95 is at the HEAD of wine-searcher's "class"!]
Addendum: Based upon tasting this again on 10/6/18, this likely just needed more air rather than showing the beginning of "shutting down".
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Decanted 8hrs. I spent a good 3 hrs with this bottle and I can say without reservation that if served blind, I could peg this as a Rhone 50% of the time… I’ll be here all week! try the veal! and don’t forget to tip your bartender. Ok, back to the wine, yes its ripe, but it’s a 2015 and though the sample size is pretty small, this in no way shape form stood out from its peers in the $50 and under from this vintage. Very forward on the nose, leans new world yes, first impact on the palate is pretty fruity for sure. But once you get past this point (which was very enjoyable) there was an overall buoyancy quality that was very appealing in how created a freshness – very easy to drink. True, it doesn’t have any olive or other roasted qualities, but it does have a very subtle mineral component that seemed to expand with each glass. Lots to enjoy today, better days tomorrow, very happy to have a couple more to see where this goes. a recent thread had the comment 'designed for 'Monktown palates' - I simply don't see that or I guess I'll start carrying my MP membership card.
P: LM body; LOVELY, almost swtish frt met by a puckerish astringency which slowly, fairly seamlessly transitions into quite a LONG, very, VERY slightly tangy finish with a swtness to the very, VERY fine tannins.
LOTS of potential here -- from its track record as WELL as what I've now tasted for the 3rd time in 5 wks. Count *ME* in as a "believer"! :) My EXC-/EXC. 97 pts Jeb Dunnuck, 94 Vinous & Jeff Leve, 93+ WA, and 93 Suckling. [This vendor's $35.95 is at the HEAD of wine-searcher's "class"!]
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P: Med, poss LM, body; LOVELY frt fairly quickly met by a puckerish astringency that somehow NEVER loses its frt as it slowly, SEAMLESSLY transitions into the LONG, puckerish finish but with an ELEGANT swtness to its very, VERY fine tannins. Deserves/NEEDS into '21, though can EASILY *handle* more based upon its track record of longevity. My EXC. 97 pts Jeb Dunnuck, 94 Vinous & Jeff Leve, 93+ WA, and 93 Suckling. [This vendor's $35.95 is at the HEAD of wine-searcher's "class"!]
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Decanted for two hours. Dark berry, lavender, braised duck, white pepper and ground granite. Latent at first, the nose and palate open up well after about three hours, with both displaying a lot of dimension. Succulent tannins, with a feathery frame. This causes a seditious feeling for those who say that Crozes-Hermitage is a mere shadow of its illustrious neighbor. Decant. Drink 2021 - 2034.
liked this but it suffered from being had on the night we also drank 1988 Guigal Cote Rotie La Mouline, of course - and notwithstanding the 2015 vintage - seemed a bit thin, decent wine and I think decent to good QPR... perhaps if we had it alone and in about two years it might garner a 91 or so (which for its $40 price tag is pretty good)
Spicy blackberries, pepper and underbrush aromas open the perfume. On the palate, the wine is rich, supple, full bodied round and mouth coating. This is a wow wine, especially when you consider the quality and cost ratio!
P: Med body; Rndish entry with NICE, almost swtish frt fairly quickly met by a PUCKERISH astringency which continues into the LONG finish of the same flavors/textures -- but without EVER losing the swtness of the initial frt! Deserves/NEEDS into early '21, I'm guessing, then drinking for at LEAST 4+ yrs more. [Not having personally experienced previous vintages of this, I'm being conservative with respect to its ageability.] My EXC, eventually SOME level of EXCEPTIONALITY? 97 pts Jeb Dunnuck, 94 Vinous, 93+ WA, & 93 Suckling. [Only 1/38 of wine-searcher's current sources beats this vendor's $35.95!]
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This one, compared to Nathalie Chaves Aleofane CH, this one is a by the book CH - there is ample fruit, well integrated oak and just sings with the acid. Grape-pits and slight herbal backdrop - more focus on the depth of everything instead of being floral and exciting (at the risk of being awkward). All in all - well made and could probably develop nicely, I don't have any more bottles and won't go looking for any either. Feels more extracted and powerful than previous vintage and perhaps not as elegant.
Neutral wood, crisp plum, salty mineral profile with hints of green herbals. Fruit profile on the nose is clean but scare, Terroir driven scents here. Dark red fruits. Palate shows interesting profile, Metallic, saline, iodine, crisp blood, minerality. There are earthy dark red fruits trying to come forth. Expansive in the mouth. density yes but, underpinning acidity keeps it fresh and lite. Tannins there for support. When reading 97 point ratings, Best Ever Thalabert with age windows of 15+ years I don’t get it. There’s lots here to like but, this is not a fruit driven wine and as such what will this become in 10+ years? Tart, Lean Mineral? I’ve had Saint Joseph’s at the same price point with a richer denser core of fruit. Purchased as futures and enjoyed 60-70 with roasted beef…Drink over the next 8 years. Na zdrowie Day 2 - What fruit there was evaporated, now shows tart mouth puckering acidity and the tannins are now coming on strong. Where are my Rolaids?
deep dark burgundy red, little clarity, ruby hue Nose: plum, tobacco, cigar, earth, barnyard, chocolate, vanilla, green pepper, herbs, oak Pal: plum, tobacco, cigar, earth, barnyard, chocolate, vanilla, green pepper, herbs, silver, tannins, oak Feel: medium, full, savory, acidic Finish: medium, full T8 (could be a 9, Terroir)
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Nose of berries, spicy herbs and fresh flowers. Good acidity, well balanced, good mouthfeel with ok lenght. Good value and good to drink now but will improve with time.
Vibrant purple with a blue hue. Nose of tart berries, sandalwood, herb crusted pork, and purple flowers. Lovely seamless texture that really floats and glides along the palate. Similar notes follow to a somewhat medium finish which falls a bit short of expectations but the mid-palate is packed with the goods.
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Captures the richness and ripeness of the vintage but with plenty of freshness and acidity to balance things out. Really ripe, delicious, thick and juicy with flavors of dark raspberry and garrigue. Finishes with fairly dry, chalky tannins and a beautiful spice note. This should shape up to be a great vintage of this great Crozes with a real track record for aging well. 92+
4/28/2024 - MatLot Likes this wine: 90 Points
correct sans plus
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4/27/2024 - Goodjob! wrote: 91 Points
Idem à mes 2 bouteilles précédentes
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4/19/2024 - willthackett wrote: 90 Points
Peppery, still some fruit left. Had it after a chilli con carne
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3/27/2024 - pomelo Likes this wine: 93 Points
Rubis foncé, presque opaque
Nez de fruits noir, viande fumée, cuir
Bouche sur le fruit noir, acidité moyenne +, tannins fermes mais agréable.
Bel équilibre, longueur moyenne sur le chocolat et le goudron
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3/15/2024 - Andrew67 Likes this wine:
Drinking very well at the moment.
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2/27/2024 - CLEguy wrote: flawed
Every other bottle has been spectacular. This one was off.
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2/10/2024 - dream Likes this wine: 92 Points
Quite serious for a Crozes with lots of depth and structure. There is lovely dark berry fruit along with a smooth, savory texture and tons of crunchy acidity. The finish is still tannic showing subtle notes of smoky spices, olive tapenade, mint and bacon fat. The purity in this wine for the price is really quite amazing and this should be special in another 5-10 years. About a decade ago I had a bottle of the '59 which was fabulous so the track record for aging here kinda defies logic. 92+
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2/10/2024 - macaujames Likes this wine: 94 Points
93-95. Has good aromas of leather, Smokey bacon, forest fruits, graphite, garrigue, earth and minty hints. A lovely quite special well oaked wine which is perhaps a little too solid but has got decent length + freshness. 13.5%. Drink in 5-10 yrs. Needs 8-9 hrs aeration. Superb QPR. I got this at around 37 Euros. Needs extra length or depth to be a 95.
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2/4/2024 - JazzManWine Likes this wine: 92 Points
This wine has opened up some since I last had it 2 years ago but is aging slowly. It can benefit from time. Very nice.
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2/3/2024 - C Soeborg wrote:
This needs more time
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1/31/2024 - ankitmehra Likes this wine: 91 Points
First things first, the QPR on this wine is unbelievable. I purchased it at $41 and you're getting a lot of the wine (all things considered - region, producer, etc) at the price. But diving into the wine itself, this is one of the best examples of Jaboulet Crozes-Hermitage on the market. The vintage itself is lauded, but this stands out particularly well within the vintage. Having tried Alain Graillot's Crozes-Hermitage from 2015 recently, this felt like it had far more life left in it. The nose itself was captivating, creating a great contrast between scents of pepper and graphite alongside créme de cassis and black cherries. Alongside those were hints of menthol and coffee too. The palate itself opened up to be dominated by tertiary qualities on the upfront, boasting tobacco and cedar wood with hints of licorice before the mid-palate brought in the signature cola note I love in Crozes-Hermitage alongside blackberries and raspberries. The finish itself added some weight to the wine with notes of meat and spices lingering across good acidity and grippy tannins. This is at the start of its peak drinking window. 91++
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1/31/2024 - Hugo Passos Likes this wine:
Prochain 2026
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1/30/2024 - WineGuyX Likes this wine: 91 Points
Interesting nose of campfire smoke, grilled switches of garden herbs such as rosemary and thyme as well as some baked black cherries. Medium-bodied, this is light but with good grip of tannins and moderately high acidity. Probably best now and over the next 2-3 years but should last longer. 91
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1/23/2024 - Brian Glas Likes this wine: 94 Points
Tasted after 1 hour of air. Smoked meats on the nose. Dry dusty tannins. Sweet stewed plums. Good spice. Big pop on the mid palate. Very long finish. An excellent wine.
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1/12/2024 - CLEguy Likes this wine: 92 Points
Drinking so beautifully right now, needs just 30-45 minutes of air to really develop.
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1/1/2024 - lifraumeni Likes this wine: 91 Points
Had to decant for 2 hours before the acidity dropped but afterward the fruit was starting to show. Blackberries and earth and a smooth finish. Will revisit my other bottles in 2-3 years!
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12/31/2023 - Luke275 wrote: flawed
Brett I think. Just smelled of manure. Not nice
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12/29/2023 - pomelo Likes this wine: 93 Points
Très beau fruit. A besoin d'encore au moins trois ans afin de développer davantage de complexité.
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12/27/2023 - OWC Likes this wine: 93 Points
Outrageously, scandalously bold, oozing deep black fruit and spice. Decadent and delicious. Don’t miss this one right now.
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12/23/2023 - 2019E.CURB wrote: 85 Points
Opened and then decanted for 3h after first sip. Kept monitoring development over the period.
Stewed, pruny fruit, very little acidity
Marmelade. Not nice.
Not sure if the bottle was off? But just came out of bond, so shouldnt be heat damage
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12/13/2023 - Supercuts Does not like this wine: 88 Points
Uninteresting and a little unpleasant. For my second bottle I will give it a proper decant and hope for better.
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12/9/2023 - rjm_va Likes this wine: 92 Points
Delicious
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12/9/2023 - Thomas123 wrote: 92 Points
Very dark red, no visibility. Bacon fat and heavy charcuterie on the nose. Dark fruit, a minty note - do they use whole stems? Mouthfilling, quite acidic, good grip. Surprisingly good - it doesn’t always have to be Cote Rotie of Hermitage.
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12/2/2023 - salarvcj Likes this wine:
PnP and was quite open not needing to be decanted. Primarily red and black fruit flavours with a little spice / pepper at the back. Very enjoyable but still plenty of development to happen.
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12/2/2023 - dera Likes this wine: 93 Points
Purple-ish color. Nose has lots of olive tapenade, savory meat and pepper, and just a little cherry. Palate is initially very fruity but mid to finish has lots of earthy and savory notes. Slightly tart red fruits, blueberries, leather, thyme, and nice acidity and lots of minerality.
Long and nice finish, albeit not the most complex one. Excellent wine!
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11/24/2023 - SWHighlander wrote: 90 Points
Mostly black fruit, restrained on the nose and palate. Tried first as a PNP, with a very restrained, tight effect and too tannic. Decanted and tried again at 1, 2 and 4 hours. Definitely better at 2 and maybe better at 4. With time the acidity and tannins felt more in balance with the fruit, which opened up a bit. Still nothing very enjoyable or memorable.
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11/14/2023 - Owen97 Likes this wine: 85 Points
I didn’t want to like this. Since the Frey takeover I’ve been sceptical of the modern, polished style. However, although ripe and well made, I feel that given maybe 5 years or more this might actually start to show some complexity true to proper Rhône Syrah. Don’t get me wrong - it’s no ‘99, but my guard is dropping ..
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11/11/2023 - crumblemore Likes this wine: 91 Points
Tasted at EMW Grand Tasting. A wine I’m familiar with and my notes are similar to previous ones. Smoky Bacon, garrigue, blackberry, meaty character, spices, creamy texture and good tannin structure. Delicious aroma and finish. Screams Syrah. Elegant and more full bodied than the Mule Noire.
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11/2/2023 - drwine2001 wrote:
Decanted 2 hours before serving. Deep purple. At first, a blast of ripe blueberry fruit with pine needles in the background. More herbs surfaced in the nose over time. Medium to full bodied, very lush, clean, and polished. Fruit driven like New World Syrah with some wood showing. As with the aromas, this gradually became more complex and smoky in the glass. I must say that I am left somewhat confused about where this is going. Opened too early or will this always be a straightforward, modern style fruit bomb?
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10/21/2023 - Buick455 wrote: 90 Points
Decanted 2 hours. Medium opaque dark red. At first a lot of fruit, some complexity, good grib. After 3 hours more mellow, fruit not as powerfull, still good fruit, dark berries, prunes. Medium to long finish. Very nice.
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10/15/2023 - matage wrote: 86 Points
This did not meet my expectations... maybe they were too high_
Bramberry/figs, meat (smoked?) with prunes and beetroot. Some menthol notes and garrique and rough tannins.
Already showing tertiary notes which was a surprise leading to a slightly hollow mid-palate where this bottle does not warrant any further aging.
It's not defective, just much further gone than expected... could it be mild heat damage?
Next bottle will tell..
Glass: Riedel Veloce Syrah
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10/13/2023 - Dinamarca wrote: 92 Points
Fantastisk Crozes! Kødfuld og frugtig vin, der er seriøs og absolut i toppen af appellationen. I næsen er man klart i Nordrhône. Let reserveret med rødt velhængt kød, stald, ymer, brombær, mørke kirsebær, blåbær samt garrique og hvid peber. I munden er vinen ren, stringent og præcis i udtrykket. Mørke bær og provancekrydderi i en mellemlang til lang eftersmag. Drikker rigtig godt nu med en time i karaflen, men ingen hast +5-8 år.
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10/9/2023 - Roughl wrote: 88 Points
A good crozes from a great year. In the glass it proves that Crozes is not Hermitage. A bit pruney and clipped. Lacks perfume and finesse. We had two bottles on the table this one and a bottle of Walter Hundsruck spatburgunder 2015 (aromatic and fine)…. Why not? Adding a dollup of the spatburgunder to this syrah, resulted in a much better wine. It became fragrant, the pruneyness resided, the wine found balance. The power made sense now. My wife said I was out of my mind to mix both wines. But the wine in the glass did not lie. 88 pts without the spat, 92 with…
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10/5/2023 - Francophile1 wrote: 85 Points
I should have read my tasting note on this wine which suggested decanting if drinking now. I did not heed my own advice as this was a PnP. This just doesn’t stay true to its Syrah varietal roots and is a touch extracted and pruney. Maybe a touch of volitile acidity? I’ve had great bottles from this vineyard and producer, just not from the 2015 vintage. Disappointing. I’m thinking it may have opened up had I decanted it???
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10/1/2023 - Brigitte Bordeaux wrote:
Torra, men mjuka tanniner, inte så mycket frukt, mer kött.
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9/23/2023 - spinnin_and_sippin Likes this wine: 89 Points
Second bottle a few years later. Alcohol is a little out of balance now that fruit has faded.
Drink now.
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9/15/2023 - viniferatu Likes this wine:
Gorgeous, elegant, nice and fruity, but also clearly a savory and peppery Syrah. Called it blind as 2015 Northern Rhone, either Crozes or St. Joseph. This will continue to develop positively for at least a few more years. Lovely stuff, Jaboulet seems to get better and better every time I taste them.
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9/3/2023 - Good Stuff Likes this wine: 91 Points
very clean, medium body, blackberries, hint of heat
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8/9/2023 - benjamin96 Likes this wine: 90 Points
Bon crozes qui arrive sur son plateau de degustation. Mure, tapenade, un peu viandeux, longueur moyenne-courte, la prochaine dans 2-3 ans. Ca commence a bien se boire.
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8/7/2023 - Luke275 wrote:
2 halves opened, tasted and combined with a few hour decant. Very animalistic and savoury. Olives and meat on nose, with some fruit poking through. Medium/low tannins. Interesting, but not a repeat buy for me.
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7/27/2023 - Deyue wrote: 91 Points
Dark ruby red with lighter edge. Generous nose of ripe dark fruits, pepper, leather and tobacco. Well balance between firm tannins and juicy backbone - good grip but silky touch. Super value!
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7/22/2023 - skifree wrote: 91 Points
Beautiful fruit and a hint of pepper on the nose when I first opened. Quite different day 2 on the nose, more like tapenade with some noticeable alcohol. Lots of acidity, with tannins and blue fruit coming out as well. Tannins dominate the finish. Enjoyable with Costco chicken. Am thinking there is some bottle variation with this wine based on the notes.
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6/6/2023 - Skrutt (Formerly RotHead) Likes this wine: 94 Points
Perfect syrah character and great with grilled food. I had a glass only and will try to remember to update what goes on with the rest of the bottle.
Magnificent tannins, sufficient dark fruit, it's all there.
Glad nationaldag!
Edid: Two days after being recorked the wine is more flirty or crowd-pleasing as the voluminous blackness is somewhat softened and accompanied by a touch of sweetish violet.
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5/28/2023 - Tom Rodger wrote: flawed
No fruit and a distinct sour taste. Definitely faulty. Such a shame as I was really looking forward to trying it
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5/26/2023 - Richg789 wrote: 93 Points
Incredible.
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5/23/2023 - Gibbons Likes this wine: 93 Points
A lot of comments here seem surprisingly sniffy to me. Had one of these this evening that was just as good as I expected from the previous 9 that I have had since buying a dozen in 2017. Colour very good, full nose, plenty of fruit. Sure, it's not an Hermitage but for its price it is honest and reliable in my opinion. I wonder whether many reviewers here have been drinking ones they bought from a shop rather than have kept themselves in controlled conditions - maybe that's the problem with so many apparently flawed bottles reported.
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5/5/2023 - Gene_Mo wrote: 90 Points
Bought based on some reviews I read. It has dark fruit tones but overall not something I would buy again.
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4/30/2023 - Oechsle Likes this wine: 91 Points
When a professional critic scores this 3 points from perfection and it falls Well short they do themselves a disservice. Makes me wonder if the Domaine poured the same wine to the critic that we the public get. Scoring this along the lines of an Ampuis or La La’s is just crazy talk. Their Wine Critic Guild ID Card should be temporarily suspended. Lol, Nose lacks perceivable fruit, dog paw, Mushroom (aka, wet cardboard), Lemon, Green peppercorns, mineral lift. On palate, tannins are still grippy and moisture wicking but, they are powdery fine and integrating. Starting to soften and loose some of its angles. Acidity better integrated then 5 years back but, still robust. Fruits beginning to peek through Black currant and morello cherry. Still dominated by gravelly terroir. Hints of smoke and cured meats. Muscular and full bodied this needs a rich fatty meal, roast leg of lamb or braised meats. Enjoyed over 2 days served with a slight chill. It’s in a good place right now to try if you have several bottles on hand otherwise give it another 2-3 years in cold storage. Purchased upon release and stored accordingly. Day 2 after vacuum cold storage acidity more pronounced and sharp with metallic taste developing. Generous amount of granular sediment… Na zdrowie
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4/9/2023 - robertek wrote: 91 Points
As expected although I had hoped for a little more. Some more years might be rewarding...
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4/8/2023 - Kayentacellars wrote: 90 Points
Aromas are moderately intense, blueberry, blackberry, menthol, spice. Full body, moderate tannins, medium finish.
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4/6/2023 - ElJefeTX Likes this wine: 92 Points
Softer profile of blue and black fruit on the nose supported by olive tapenade, pencil shavings, and licorice. Similar muted notes on the palate with gentle, velvety tannins and a mild umami/mushroom note on the finish. Not as robust as I’d otherwise like to see from a Northern Rhone.
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4/3/2023 - robertek wrote: 90 Points
Needs lots of air and it comes around nicely. Some more points on this one with a good 5 hours of decant
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3/2/2023 - Quarked wrote: flawed
I have a hard time detecting cork taint, but this seemed to be it. Really awful. Have 3 more bottles and I hope this was an outlier.
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2/24/2023 - crumblemore Likes this wine: 91 Points
PnP and drank over a period of 4 hours. Started opening up around the 2-hour mark and was excellent towards the last hour. The drinkability has improved drastically compared to the previous bottle I had a year ago. Flavors of blackberry, dark fruit, spice, and earth/mineral notes. Exceptionally smooth, balanced, and drinks very well today with the potential for aging more. Look forward to drinking the rest of my bottles over the next few years! Great quality!
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2/12/2023 - jpkc Likes this wine: 90 Points
4hr decant opened it up, nearly black, dark fruits, good acidity, average finish, should improve with more time in the bottle or at least not need as much time to open up. Great with rack of lamb & roasties. 90+/-
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2/5/2023 - Goodjob! wrote: 91 Points
Chêne, cuir, viande séchée au nez. Bouche souple, puissance moyenne, acidité moyenne, tannins modérés. Pas très fruité, légèrement épicé, boisé bien intégré. J’aurais aimé un peu plus de poivre. Belle tenue et belle équilibre d’ensemble. Le vin me semble prêt à boire et tiendra la route jusqu’à la fin de la décennie, mais pas beaucoup plus selon moi. 91
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1/28/2023 - KrisHem wrote: 91 Points
Very smooth. Quite a lot of blackcurrent on the nose, oak and leather. Nice tannins and the acidity balanced very well to the fruit. Still has potential.
Paired with stuffed roasted chicken with garlic confit hummus and bread. Than went exceptionally wll.
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1/22/2023 - Good Stuff Likes this wine: 93 Points
Medium body, fruit forward, well balancec
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12/27/2022 - Ara Kafafian Likes this wine: 90 Points
From a magnum, wine has shed some of its infancy tannins even though that there is still plenty left. Nose has opened with notes of vanilla, mocha, leather and chalk. Very length, paired well with hard cheeses. Still needs time. Try again in 2025, will hold until 2035.
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12/24/2022 - wmccone54 Likes this wine: 92 Points
I’d previously enjoyed the 2016 vintage of this wine a little over a year ago, and although very good, this is far superior in terms of readiness, drinkability, and enjoyment. Decanted and paired with leftover Jambalaya. Immediately approachable, showing smokey blackberry, cooked meat, anise, black licorice, black olive, black cherry and black charred earth with a hint of rocky granite. Although in development, tannins, oak, fruits and acidity are well on their way toward full integration. Finishes strong and long. Ready to drink now, but will most likely improve with further cellaring. Drink through 2030+. Excellent!
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12/24/2022 - Crunge wrote: 93 Points
Two-hour decant and consumed over the next hour. Medium-bodied with earthy flavors (soil, garrigue) and mild black fruits. While more Syrah-like than the bottle from March 2021, this is still rather restrained but both my wife and I enjoyed it. Definitely changed since the last bottle, so I'll continue to age the remaining bottles.
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12/23/2022 - lvjohn Likes this wine: 94 Points
Filtered and decanted. Let rest for a while. Tasted really fine with hearty north Rhone flavors and texture. Clean and delineated with complexity.
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12/22/2022 - randomly wrote: flawed
Corked
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12/21/2022 - j.a.price.trucking wrote: 91 Points
Delicious. Earthy and soft/delicate.
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12/3/2022 - Discobiscuits42 wrote: 92 Points
Wonderful wine. Opaque deep purple. Heavy espresso, secondarily soil/mushroom on the nose. Primarily mushroom on the palate. Secondarily espresso, orange. Very interesting wine but not much complexity.
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7/17/2022 - Francophile1 Likes this wine: 90 Points
Consistent tasting note from my last one in November 2021. This is getting better and starting to become a more interesting and enjoyable tasting experience. I still wish it had more secondary notes. Decant if drinking now.
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7/9/2022 - spinnin_and_sippin Likes this wine: 90 Points
Warm, simple, tasty. Nothing special despite a great vintage.
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7/7/2022 - jhanne8 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Drinking perfectly
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6/27/2022 - Lynge Likes this wine: 90 Points
Had expected a bit more complexity but very nice wine. Give it a few more years.
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5/29/2022 - NickA Likes this wine: 89 Points
This didn't excite me... surprisingly ready, textbook Syrah, lacking much complexity or character. I think I'd have preferred either more grip and bite or more tertiary development, so suggest holding a couple of years.
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4/16/2022 - Big Juicy Red Likes this wine:
Dark and heavy, but not at all syrupy. Hints of plum and earth and maybe coffee grounds. As others have noted, flavors are definitely muted and I was a bit disappointed in that I expected more complexity. There's a bite of something -- either pepper or high alcohol, but it's only 13.5%. Tannins are low, but still noticeable and not grippy. Took a couple of hours to start showing properly, so I suspect there's plenty of life left in this.
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2/23/2022 - stbraunt Likes this wine: 91 Points
It’s good, but it needs time. Too young for a full flavor profile. Everything seems pretty muted. A nice bottle with hopefully a brighter future.
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1/28/2022 - Jmac56 Likes this wine: 91 Points
Earthy licorice nose. Very well balanced with jam and chalk and nice fruit.
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1/24/2022 - Rallerboy888 Likes this wine: 90 Points
Slightly disappointed in its showing. The fruit was very much the focus of the wine, with the tannins being almost entirely broken down, and the structure hiding a bit. I think it was slightly shut down, and will probably need a little more time to come around properly.
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1/17/2022 - Oknoman Likes this wine: 91 Points
Full of youth and promise, lovely after decanting and will continue to develop in the cellar. Try again in ‘23.
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1/2/2022 - JazzManWine Likes this wine: 92 Points
Purple with a little garnet. Closed some today. Interesting nose and taste. Dark fruit, a little pepper, and more. Maybe just another year and it will open.
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12/26/2021 - btwine wrote: 89 Points
Decanted 1 hour. Is fine to drink now, no tannin grip to speak of. Nice but without much depth. Was hoping for more based on other reviews. Not great qpr.
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12/24/2021 - NickA Likes this wine: 91 Points
A really lovely and surprisingly open showing, despite being popped and poured. Lovely nose, full of blue fruit and musky violets. Good acidity, very food-friendly, lots of promise for further development.
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12/19/2021 - OaktownRush Likes this wine:
Blackberries, pencil shavings, some earth, bits of sesame, and sage on the nose. It’s a nuanced nose that’s super dense. The palate has more sesame, black pepper, bits of blackberry. Nice length and precision. It’s good, but it needs to open up still, it felt dense and wound tight — this is one to hold and drink.
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12/18/2021 - rjm_va Likes this wine: 91 Points
90 min decant. Delicious
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12/4/2021 - Jmac56 Likes this wine: 89 Points
Modest earthy nose. A bit acidic with some nice fruit but not especially memorable.
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11/25/2021 - srh Likes this wine: 93 Points
Should you be interested, I’ve uploaded info for this vintage which you can peruse at your leisure. 😉
≈2 hrs slow ox, though some VERY fine sediment was in the bottom of Day 2's final glass; Private Preserve used after Day 1.
N: FRAGRANT blkberries, poss blk rasps, with a distinct spiciness, notes of wet stones, poss some blk pepper, & hints of something floral
P: LM body; NICE, elegant, almost swtish frt met by a bit of astringent pucker which SEAMLESSLY transitions into a LONG, beautifully balanced, very, VERY slightly tart finish which firms with its acidity rather than with its almost negligible tannins. FABULOUS solo, ALMOST as good with the Chx Burrito (Ancho's) & Sharp Cheddar Cheese, though poss one has to enjoy a style atypical for the New World to say that? 🤔
// Day 2: Aromas of blk pepper, poss Indian spices, then blkberries; P seems to have held acceptably, working just fine with the night's Thanksgiving leftovers, though at least one relative, while enjoying the wine, felt it too substantive for the pairing.
// ∑: My EXC (92,93/100 using that metric), arguably the higher, + should make its 10th w/o difficulty, probably longer, as I've found that wines of SUCH balance & relatively low alcohol can easily outlive expectations, though one certainly CAN'T be acid aversive for THAT to be the case. 😉 13.5% ABV
My 6th TN for this
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11/24/2021 - unrelenting wrote:
Wine advocate was incorrect. Way too early to drink, hence I’m withholding a score (because I’m just not good enough to assess immature wine).
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11/11/2021 - Brian Glas Likes this wine: 93 Points
Tasted after 90 minutes of air. Dark blue fruits and savory notes. Firm tannins. Plenty of midpalate lift. The finish goes on and on. Great balance. Very nice effort.
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11/4/2021 - Francophile1 Likes this wine: 90 Points
Starting to come into its own. Leaner than I was expecting and while it doesn’t scream Syrah and needs coaxing from the glass, it is a lovely bottle of wine. Very balanced. Decanted for 1 hour. I expect it will take on more secondary character in 2-3 more years.
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10/5/2021 - unionst Likes this wine: 95 Points
Pop and pour:
Dark saturated color.
Ripe plum, leather, black minerals, mint and black pepper on the nose. Black licorice emerges with air.
Mouth watering acidity on the finish. Very full front to mid palate. Plums, ripe strawberries (with a dash of balsamic), orange rind and white pepper on the finish. Delicious!
After a night a night in the fridge (vacuum sealed) the wine really came together. Incredible integrated and balanced - some of the acidity calmed down into a very well-balanced wine. Combination of dark fruit and mineralogy, stunning.
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9/20/2021 - Hanibal wrote: 89 Points
Mostly ripe black fruit tilting on blue fruit. Lush but wood and tannins still a tad intrusive at this stage.
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9/6/2021 - Smahlatz Likes this wine:
Consistent with previous note. Needs more time in bottle
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9/1/2021 - BHRH Likes this wine: 91 Points
Decanted one hour. This has something for everyone. Complex blue fruit and black currant aromas with herbs and some olives. Medium-to-full bodied black fruits,, herbs, some minerality but relatively no hard edges. Concentrated, but not overdone in any way - this is highly approachable now, yet seems to have the complexity for mid-term aging. QPR champ, also! 91+
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8/17/2021 - adamanko wrote:
Last bottle, out of three, and this had the most secondary notes. But I think it still has life. Drink or hold. 90 and 91 I gave my other bottles and that seems about right. A good wine.
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8/11/2021 - motuski Likes this wine: 93 Points
Decanted for an hour. Perfect example of a lean Syrah from the Rhone Valley. Dark fruit, cassis and a little oak on the nose. On the palette there's good acidity ,present tannins and peppery notes you might expect. This makes an excellent food wine. Drinking really well now, though I suspect might get better in a year or two
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7/10/2021 - mpsocal wrote:
Very closed off and never really opened up. I think it may have been flawed
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7/4/2021 - Neecies Likes this wine:
1.5L. Andouzed (uncorked but not decanted) for 24 hours. Very pleasant red and black fruit, toast, tobacco and good balancing acidity. At this point too much acidity to be mistaken for California as this vintage has been accused of, but lacks the green olive and tar typical of a C-H syrah. Needs more time to develop.
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6/21/2021 - beatles wrote: 91 Points
Fine showing tonight. Surerely this is somewhat polished, not the wine, that this once was, but is a better than solid crozes and the local character shines through with herbs, pepper, black fruit, olives. Still young certainly.
#Atelier33
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5/25/2021 - Roughl Likes this wine: 91 Points
Had this after Alain Voge 2012 VV and this was way more powerful and bold (and stylistically I clearly preferred the Voge). Pepper, olives, meat, kirsch and bread yeast on the nose. Good strong acidity, but the palate is not really giving. Tannic structure is for me ok to enjoy it right now. The wines finish is medium. Nevertheless, for my taste this is distinctly young and needing a decant or more time in the cellar. I had a coravin sample so not the time to sit and enjoy. I see this evolving nicely, but this doesn't seem to rock me as it seems to rock others. I will hold on to my bottles for 5 years before opening the rest.
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4/20/2021 - Drizzt321 Likes this wine:
At its peak, very nice, solid wine and goes great with food. Drink up, don't think it'll improve further.
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4/15/2021 - mpsocal Likes this wine: 92 Points
Pretty consistent, pretty awesome wine.
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4/3/2021 - lvjohn Likes this wine: 94 Points
Excellent! Tasted great the first night and then retreated into the bottle for a long time the second. Decanted with little in the way of residue. A very solid example of Crozes-Hermitage. Relative to California Syrah, this is subtle in its expression. Dark, with solid fruit. Admirable cleanliness of style with excellent mouthfeel. A bargain wine that's showing very well now.
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3/15/2021 - Crunge Likes this wine: 92 Points
Keep holding this. Decanted for 5 hours and consumed over an hour. A sample at open showed the decant was a good thing. After decanting, blackberries and black cherries dominated without the pepper I'd hoped to find. Overall it was milder than expected and has high acidity. Paired with leg of lamb and I am glad to have additional bottles. The recommend start date of 2023 is probably correct.
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3/6/2021 - Musigny1955 Likes this wine: 92 Points
{?3rd purchased on release, PopNPour from cellar} Super wine not yet remotely near being at peak. Reeks of ripe but balanced Syrah fruit, medium weight but big presence like a fine Burgundy, fine tannins, such balance! 92-94 tonight.
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3/6/2021 - Vaughanwallace wrote: 93 Points
Deep and dark. Mild spoce
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2/11/2021 - KJD45$ Likes this wine: 93 Points
Nose is unmistakably Syrah with the herbal, meaty, dark fruit smell..
That taste is great... deep red/black fruit,garrigue, black pepper, terroir,
Nice grippy tannins, some mineral lift...just an excellent Syrah...
Definitely French.....I think a few more years will make it even better as the tannins lighten up...well balanced wine..
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2/8/2021 - Smahlatz Likes this wine: 89 Points
Everything in the right place here. Elegant with good concentration, but way too young. Consider in 5 years
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1/24/2021 - Old John Likes this wine: 93 Points
Flat out delicious syrah. Compares favorably to much more costly hermitage, and I would say it has just now entered its window, for at least the next five years.
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1/16/2021 - tward Likes this wine: 88 Points
Really very good, but even after 2-3 hours in the decanter and with some time in the glass it wasn't particularly complex or engaging. Very nice, went very well with dinner (Zabuton steak - Snake River Farms American Wagyu, sous vide then cast iron, if you wanted to know). It's possible this is in a little closed phase. I figure wait a couple years for the next one. I think slumber will do this some good.
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1/9/2021 - maxima wrote: 94 Points
Avec un petit 2 heures de carafe,
WOW, ce vin sort en queue de paon.
Complexe et intense, vraiment extra.
Mures, bleuets, poivre, olives et
viandes fumée. Les tannins sont fins
et la finale hyper longue et sans accroc.
C`est hyper gouleyant avec un côté
minéral qui le rend fort délicieux.
Excellent.
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1/6/2021 - lvjohn Likes this wine: 94 Points
Give this wine a long and careful decanting. There are solids that need to be remove. Without enough air exposure, this wine will seem to be a pleasant, somewhat smooth and simple wine with notes of dark fruits. With sufficient time (about 2-3 hours) in a decanter it blossoms into a wonderful wine experience that is uniquely Northern Rhone. I found complexity, great mouthfeel, and depth of flavors that hardly compares to our first tastes.
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12/30/2020 - mpsocal Likes this wine: 91 Points
This seriously might be one of my favorite wines. It’s not the best I’ve ever had but it’s a consistently delicious drink and it’s always gone in a flash.
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12/23/2020 - Vaughanwallace wrote: 92 Points
Give the next bottle more time. 2023 onwards
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12/6/2020 - SMHalps wrote: 89 Points
my last of 4 bottles of this vintage, and a little disappointing. Could it have already been over the hill? Notes of Cedar with a pleasing acidity. I've had a few vintages of this cuvee and this is the first bottle that I was able to wait a few years to open and drink.
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11/12/2020 - drwine2001 wrote:
Aerated for 4 hours in bottle. Deep color but not quite opaque. Strong initial whiff of olive, then candied black fruit. Medium weight but nice ripe sappy feel. Ripe, tangy boysenberry with an earthy base and excellent acidity. Roundly tannic. Quite beautiful depth and purity of fruit, but still waiting for more complexity to arrive.
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11/11/2020 - stkilda Likes this wine: 95 Points
Yet another outstanding offering from the extraordinary Northern Rhone 2015 vintage where Syrah really shines. If you bought across the board in this vintage you will most certainly be happy with your foresight to do so. All things considered this a compelling, hedonistic, full throttle wine that punches well above its weight, inky black , mouth filling but never heavy, juicy with great precision and zero excessive heat. Give this some respect a 3 to 4 hour decant will reveal a wine of majestic beauty. Enjoy the fruit now but you can be assured this has a long life ahead. An extra point for exceptional value and three cheers for a wine at only 13.5 ABV.
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10/27/2020 - Motz wrote: 94 Points
Brought this wine to celebrate the union of my brother from another mother and his charming bride.
It showed beautifully! The wine has shed considerable baby fat, and now features high-tension, metallic ore-like grip, along with blue fruit elements, peppercorns, bacon fat, herbs, coal, smoke, and graphite. Medium plus acid, and subtle tannic grip. The oak treatment, which was a little heavier than it needed to be, is on its way toward solid integration.
Likely to enter a square drinking window in seven to ten years, and still there will be no hurry.
A great and unforgettable day to enjoy a great wine! 94-95.
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10/19/2020 - mpsocal wrote: flawed
It was bound to happen sooner or later. Something was wrong with this one. The funk never blew off.
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10/17/2020 - DaddyNeedsPow Likes this wine:
Coming together nicely! Still has massive upside to more cellar time.
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10/11/2020 - Buick455 wrote: 90 Points
Decanted 2 hours. Drank over 2 days. In the fridge, second day the best. Need air at this stage. First of 6 bottles. Will wait some years for the next one. Medium opaque dark red. Nice fruit, some complexity, good grib. The finish is not as long as expected. Very nice and will improve.
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9/14/2020 - maxima wrote: 93 Points
Bu en peu après AMPUIS 2015 et celui-ci
n'a pas trop à tarir, c'est fabuleux,
C'est enchanteur, pas mal de matière, du bacon et
de la viande fumée, des olives et du poivre
avec des mures et des violettes.
Super long et persistant, avec une finale
qui donne des relents minéraux.
Vraiment EXCELLENT, un RQP ce 2015 qui en donne
pas mal en ce moment mais qui a aussi un bon potentiel
pour être encore mieux avec le temps.
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8/20/2020 - mpsocal Likes this wine: 91 Points
There was a little funkiness too it but that blew off after 20 minutes. Rich dense wine with a good balance of fruit and earth.
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8/18/2020 - lvjohn Likes this wine: 91 Points
This wine needs lots of time (hours) to open up! Definitely north Rhone in nature with mineral and fruit notes. Nice mouthfeel. After 6 hours it revealed excellent red fruits and a sweet nose. Nice purity.
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7/11/2020 - tomjputney Likes this wine: 91 Points
Medium, black currant, sour cherry and black pepper. Hint of smoke and leather. Well balanced acidity and tannin
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6/28/2020 - PJRONeill wrote: 91 Points
Lots of good potential here - though this was reticent on the nose with a four-hour decant, with notes of pine and cherries with a bit of oregano, it is nicely detailed on the palate, if not hugely expressive, with good structure and acid. Worked very well with marinated flank steak though of course it needs more time , ideally another 5-10 years, to hit peak. Great value.
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6/13/2020 - adamanko wrote: 90 Points
3-4 hour decant and then I get sloeberries, lingonberries and plum. Tobacco and pepper comes around as well. It's good now and has life in it. Maybe even get better? 90.
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6/13/2020 - Nipperu Likes this wine: 92 Points
Clear deep purple. Some sedimentation in bottle.
Black fruits, ripe plums and cherries
Dried herbs, dry earth, pepper
Something animal/manure
Olives/cured meat
Dry
Med body
Med+ acid
Med+ tannins, bordering high
Med+ alcohol, but balanced, maybe 14%?
Palate matches nose
Med+ finish, hint of bitterness
Vg now, could see it developing well with more secondary, animal flavors and tannins falling by another notch into truly pleasant territory. 1h decant
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5/15/2020 - mpsocal Likes this wine: 90 Points
Bold wine with some subtle spice notes. I probably drank it to fast and didn’t allow it to reach its full potential.
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5/5/2020 - Brain Capers wrote:
Well, opened with the Jaboulet corkscrew from their wine bar in Tain la Hermitage, so was expecting something better. Monolithic, not sweet , oaky, just no sense of place, or that of Syrah. Going thru a dumb period I hope. Hope the next bottle is on point. An additional note, the wine was decanted and returned to bottle an hour before drinking...
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3/20/2020 - zdrillings Likes this wine: 90 Points
Inky purple wine. Big, viscous. Black fruit nose, but taste is more garrigue, tobacco and spice. Tannin is present and still a bit pokey... looking forward to it mellowing in a few years
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3/15/2020 - Wine Gopher wrote: 90 Points
Way too young. I opened on Friday and decanted 2 hours. It was tannic and closed so I audibled to a different wine for dinner and funneled this back in to the bottle and vacu-vinned. Checked in on Saturday and it hadn't evolved from Friday. Opened again on Sunday and it was still closed. Decanted for an hour and ate with a steak. Scoring off of Sunday.
After long wait it was ready to drink. Muted nose, red fruited, hint of pepper. Medium body. Very smooth at this point. Medium finish.
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2/22/2020 - johnnylaw1222 Likes this wine: 91 Points
Tasted at end of night, after 6.5 hours in decanter. Meat, dried red fruit, and vanilla nose. Pleasant sour cherry, slight bakers chocolate, firm tannins. Good wine, needs to mature.
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2/16/2020 - BillyT wrote: 92 Points
Motz notes describe EXACTLY our experience. We drank over 2 days with the same experience. Love jaboulet and so happy they make a wine that is remotely a daily drinker.
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2/3/2020 - gbbwino wrote: 90 Points
Good, but not great, wine. It was monolithic & somewhat simple, lacking layers & complexity. PNP from magnum so I'm thinking it was opened too young with not enough time to breath to open up. I suspect with more age & decant time, it would be much better.
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1/28/2020 - aero wrote:
Backwards purple tight mass today — needs many years to unfurl. Blind I’d never be able to place the terroir. But perhaps, given a read of others’ notes and acclaim, I received an unusual bottle. No score.
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11/30/2019 - La Cave d'Argent Likes this wine: 94 Points
Deep-to-opaque crimson in color, this Syrah is packed with black and blue fruit that is accented with savory herbs, smoked meat, dry earth, cedar and black olives. Full-bodied, freshly acidic and with nicely woven alcohol (listed as 13.5%), it wraps its flavors with silky tannins and a modicum of spicy oak. Dense on the middle palate and concluding with impressive length, this Crozes stands high above most of its peers. The fruit and structure are in place to ensure that this well-priced wine will reach its 20th birthday with grace. Drink now-2035.
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11/9/2019 - Francophile1 Likes this wine: 88 Points
88 points today, but 92+ in 3-5 years. It is just too young right now to show its true potential and the tannin is taught and grippy. However, the fruit, structure, and balance suggests it will get better with age.
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11/7/2019 - Motz wrote: 94 Points
Tasted over two days. This needs to breathe for several hours to show its best. Indeed, a 10 to 12 hour decant would do it no harm. Tasty and well rounded on the first day, yet generally closed. The half bottle we consumed on this day was essentially wasted, a fact established by the beauty it showed on the second.
On this day, the wine featured strong varietal typicity, including saturated blue, purple, and black berries, assorted meat roasting herbs, intense peppercorn, coal and mineral depth. Delightfully pretty. Medium plus to high acid and light yet effusive tannins provide firm structure and lift. The layers, range, and overarching harmony made for a spectacularly enjoyable experience.
Over the last fifteen months, the wine has turned somewhat reticent, shifting away from fruit forwardness. It now leans toward varietal expressiveness and the traditional elements of North Rhone Syrah. Delicious!
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11/2/2019 - ctbesq Likes this wine: 90 Points
Still very young. Decanted for 2.5 hours. Improved significantly with decanting. This wine needs more cellar time to reach its full potential. Deep inky purple. Spice, cinnamon, pepper. Lots of potential.
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10/30/2019 - aknot13 wrote:
Impossible to score - way too young. Do not open this!
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10/16/2019 - maxima wrote: 93 Points
Encore une fois excellent...jeune mais fort
approchable. Me reste encore pas mal de
bouteilles format 750ml...mes magnums
font dodo pour la longue garde (10-15ans).
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10/9/2019 - STM82 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Really blossomed after a couple hours. Decant
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10/6/2019 - Neras wrote: 89 Points
Next to a Carlisle 2016 Sierre Mar, this did not stand a chance. Rustic and naked it was neither really enjoyable or interesting.
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9/28/2019 - ESCO wrote: 92 Points
I had this blind at a friend's house ; my wife loved it , I was not so keen at this stage. It is certainly v young but has boatloads of potential.
It is not yet in sync ; great flavour , biting tannin, aren't singing yet in chorus with the beautiful acidity. I am really just scaremongering here , because I have no doubt at all that this wine will , develop, refine, and blossom into a star. Deep , deep Rhone favourites fill the senses ; it is archetypal in such a good way .
It will be great.
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9/26/2019 - macaujames Likes this wine: 94 Points
Half Bottle. This is profound, juvenile and a bit drying. Has muted meaty + earthy aromas of smoky bacon, chalk, peppery blackberries, black olives, funk and tar. Its medium to full bodied multi-dimensional unfruity peppery black fruits palate has nice acidity. Ends longish, blackfruited and mouth puckering. 13.5%. Lay down 5-10 years to sort out the tannins and flesh out. Needs 7-8 hrs aeration.
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9/7/2019 - JCGuthrie wrote:
No detailed notes, but really like this. Exceptionally smooth, fine tannins. 91-92?
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7/9/2019 - oldwines Likes this wine: 91 Points
Tasted at Brasserie de L’Est in Lyon with dinner that was highlighted by a glass of this wine being spilled all over my 15 year old daughter, the look on her face was priceless. Nonetheless the wine was as expected. A little richer and more fruit forward than the examples I remember from the 1980’s and 1990’s which I very much enjoyed. It had the signature pepper, spice and black fruit notes and a reasonably long finish. Good now but I suspect it still has room to improve with some additional bottle age.
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6/29/2019 - adamanko wrote: 91 Points
Closed. Did not have time with this so I poured it back in the bottle for another day. No grade at this point.
Day 2 it is meat and tobacco but not much else.
Day 3 I enjoy it finally. Very subtle fruit. Mellow. 84-92 over three days. I'll wait with my last two for some years.
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6/12/2019 - JimTaft Likes this wine: 92 Points
Very fine Syrah, enjoyable right out of the bottle but will likely age well for five or more years. Well balanced and delicious with tonight's Copper River sockeye salmon. Yum.
Fruit forward with delightful aromatics, appropriate acidity and tannins. Very enjoyable now.
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5/31/2019 - macaujames Likes this wine: 94 Points
A serious wine! Has full aromas of cedary blackberries, licorice, black olives, light spice underbrush and minerals. Its solid medium bodied to full bodied fresh lightly stony and peppery black fruits near outstandingly concentrated palate ends longish and a bit drying. 13.5%. Needs 6-7 hrs+ aeration. V.young. Lay down 10-15 years+.
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5/20/2019 - Boggshead wrote: 90 Points
This was really good deep flavor
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5/16/2019 - mpsocal Likes this wine: 92 Points
Very tasty wine. Delicious fruit with some acidity. Well balanced wine.
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4/17/2019 - maxima wrote: 93 Points
Superbe comme mes autres...en carafe 3 heures, impérativement.
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4/7/2019 - tplskylrk wrote:
P&P....Case in storage and saw this retail for same price. Chance to test drive. Dark in the glass, thile the floral, fruit deliciousness jumps into the air. Just bit of funk.
Super svelte mouth feel. Loads tangy fruit. Pepper, green pepper, some oak, tar, blood, wet stones. Delicious young stuff. Untamed. Good future.
After nearly four hours opened. Last glass. This is gained weight. Nose is more classic Hermitage now, stinky dirty bloody stony. Weighty, dryish, drying scaping tannins, puckering youth, peppering fruit. Some green notes. This is really lacking that Aussie ripeness you get so much of in Asia, this will just get more complex...more savory.
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4/3/2019 - Bellbx Likes this wine: 93 Points
Olives. Wet rocks. Black fruits. Indian spice. Hints of oak, cedar, plum and licorice. Excellent Syrah for the price point. Maybe drank too early. Will invest in a few more bottles to see how this changes.
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3/27/2019 - PSC Likes this wine: 92 Points
Needs a lot of air, at least 5 hrs. Opens/improves dramatically with time.
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3/20/2019 - Deux Chevaux wrote:
Dark ruby. Deep and rather dense fruit. Earthy, meaty. All appears in balance, but at this point, it was for us surprisingly monolithic, with little development over four nights of tasting. We assume that age will contribute complexity.
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3/13/2019 - maxima wrote: 94 Points
Encore une fois, superbe Rhone Nord en jeunesse pour environ 40$,
pas étonnant qu'il fut SOLD OUT en peu de temps à la SAQ.
Ici on parle d'un vrai RQP pour moi et bien devant certains Espagnols
qui sont 15-20$ de plus, y'a pas photo, celui-ci est loin devant.
En carafe pour 3 heures car le premier verre bu tranquilement était de
mieux en mieux avec l'air, donc le reste de la bouteille a été mis en carafe!
Beau nez frais et complexe sur les fruits rouge, les herbes, la garigue,
de la fumée et de la viande, superbe.
En bouche, c'est de la soie et un superbe équilibre entre la densité
et le raffinement. Des mures et des bleuets avec du bacon
et du poivre. L'acidité lui donne une belle tension et
la finale sans accroc est hyper longue et veloutée.
C'est minéral et digeste tout en étant musclé et fort gouteux.
Un superbe vin, là en ce moment, qui en donne beaucoup et qui en donnera
encore 15-20, 25 possiblement.
Excellent sur toute la ligne.
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3/8/2019 - BigTex22 Likes this wine: 92 Points
First of 9 bottles purchased. Decanted - as soon as I popped the cork, the bouquet shot out of the bottle. Spice and flowers on the nose. In the mouth, fruit comes on strong, and then subsides into a shyer mid palate. Good finish, with just a touch of tartness. I tasted more red fruit than blue. Wine is young - my sense is this will age well over a 15 year curve and get better with time. 92 points with possibly a few more points of future upside.
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3/3/2019 - mpsocal Likes this wine: 92 Points
There is something about this I really like. It has some nice fruit but it’s not fruity. Seems to have a good balance of fruit and acid.
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2/22/2019 - KJD45$ Likes this wine: 91 Points
Meaty, herbal, dark fruit nose..
Tongue is boysenberry, herbs, garrigue, tannin finish...
Needs more time but enough complexity and flavor to evolve to
something bettter than it is now..
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1/29/2019 - mpsocal Likes this wine: 92 Points
There is a little acidity with a nice core of fruit. Really lovely stuff.
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1/19/2019 - bablues wrote: 95 Points
8th Annual Holiday Dinner and Cellar Raid - A Month Late (Naperville, IL): Part of wine dinner and cellar raid so did not take detailed notes. Had this about 6 weeks ago and was blown away. I was happy that someone chose this as I have been raving about 2015 N Rhones. Went up against some serious wines and was incredible.
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1/2/2019 - kosinski wrote:
Aroma: sweet dark berries, tea, cured meat, blueberries, vanilla.
Palate: spicy ripe berry flavors with notes of vanilla, meat, minerals and a touch of herbs. Nicely complex. Mid-weight, moderate acidity, moderate tannin.
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12/29/2018 - maxima wrote: 95 Points
Seconde bouteille...un cas de caisse, une 2ième pour moi!
Voila une belle bouteille, c`est bon là et pourra s`améliorer
avec le temps en cave, SUPERBE!
Pour 45$ environ, un très beau RQP...et ça part vite.
Beau nez, racée et complexe, des bleuets, de la viande,
un peu de fumée et des épices avec ce petit côté floral, vraiment beau.
En bouche, WOW, c`est suave et bien approchable.
Des mures et du cassis avec une belle concentration et complexité.
De l`anis et des minéraux avec du poivre.
Belle tension et énergie avec des tannins étoffés et une
finale raffinée sans fin.
Que du bon ici.
PS: Pour environ 90$ le Magnum, 3 dans la cave pour revoir dans 10ans, un sure bet!
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12/24/2018 - mpsocal Likes this wine: 92 Points
This was a very tasty wine. It was balanced with nice fruit at the core.
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12/22/2018 - Saintock Likes this wine: 90 Points
Fruity nose. Full body. Medium finish. Overall good value for this syrah
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12/16/2018 - randyjc wrote: 93 Points
This is a wine on its way up over the next five years or so. Really lovely. The nose is gorgeous - black cherry, stone, horse blanket and spice cake. In the mouth the wine is surprisingly light-bodied but the flavors are not light - they are deep, black cherry, black raspberry with a lovely minerality. The wine finishes long, with a peppery and black fruit finish that lingers lovingly for 30 - 45 seconds. I cannot wait to drink these in another 3 - 8 years.
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12/10/2018 - jviz wrote: 91 Points
Very classic and yes I can appreciate the reviews suggesting it is built for the long haul. Good balance of fruit and meaty notes, with pasty blackberry compote
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12/1/2018 - drwine2001 wrote:
Early test drive after 6 hours of aeration in the bottle. Deep ruby, but not opaque or thick. Early black olive and rather pungent fennel, but then after letting it sit open, faint floral notes and more of the typical black fruit and anise. Medium weight, clean, good intensity, fine ripe fruit with excellent soil and bolstering acidity. Moderately tannic finish. Promising wine that I'd personally be inclined to revisit 6 or 8 years down the road. I get the sense that this is being made in a more approachable style than the Thalabert of old (I'm thinking of the 1978 and 1990, for example, both of which drank beautifully for over 20 years), but this still should last and age very well.
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12/1/2018 - Omar Khayyam Likes this wine: 92 Points
Very good, has good juicy ripe fruit but is toned down and balanced with some meaty tones as well as chilled blueberries and smoke. Sleek Syrah that was quite good with food now but has potential to age for sure.
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11/25/2018 - HaraldS wrote: 92 Points
Very big wine for Crozes-Hermitage. Has the typical dustyness of the region, but very big, mouthfilling fruit. I quite liked it, but i had hoped for something slightly more elegant for the food i had.
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11/21/2018 - bablues wrote: 95 Points
Got a hold of a few of these on auction for a great price but searching for anything 2015 N Rhone and I was shocked at the pro scores and the CT ratings. Finally arrived today and I couldn't wait to pop one open. I gave it about an hour decant but tried a taste upon open. Not revealing too much beside just being delicious. After an hour, this is so subtle, so juicy, and so damn delicious. Gorgeous balance between old and new world, perhaps the fruit of the new world without being nearly over the top, and the subtle old world Syrah characteristics that California wines struggle to replicate. Very Burgundian style with a nice tannic grip. This will last decades and I will tuck at least three bottles away and hopefully not touch them for ten years, though I think I will still have to try one more soon to make sure my tasting notes are accurate.
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11/15/2018 - ESCO wrote: 92 Points
Textbook ; a Rhone of body, breeding, and class. Slumbering in a simple tannic sea at present, this wine has decades ahead wherein the massive potential will surely develop into complexity and pleasure. We have 5 bottles remaining and I see no need to touch, test or taste them again for 10 years when the rewards will be amazing.
There is quite simply nothing to chance in this wine, as it will be sublime.
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11/14/2018 - SMHalps Likes this wine: 92 Points
My second bottle in six months. Very good, but it needs a lot of air. The first sips were watery and thin, 45 minutes later it started to show very well.
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11/6/2018 - maxima wrote: 93 Points
Bu en succ.
Un vin immense, un aubaine à ce prix!
Un autre example de la grandeur de 2015 en Rhone Nord...6 bouteilles en cave et je me retiens!
Le vin était en carafe depuis le matin, donc un bon 4 heures.
Un nez dense et pure sur les cerises et les mures avec
de la sauge et de la fumée avec un brin d'olive et de viande.
En bouche, de la soie et fort complexe.
Des mures, du bacon, du lard et un peu de tapenade sur un fond florale.
Aucune lourdeur, une belle impression de fraicheur et de minéraux.
Les tannins sont fins t la finale hyper
longue et veloutée, rien n'accroche.
Un vin qui démontre une belle tension et un bel équilibre.
Superbe en ce moment et jusqu'ou il ira...on pourra le suivre!
PS: You heard it here first...AGAIN!
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11/3/2018 - Ben D Likes this wine: 98 Points
Just an amazing wine! Structure, acidity, we’ll balanced fruit and leathery earthy notes. Good ageability. This wine will continue to develop nicely in the bottle for 10-15 years.
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11/3/2018 - mischwine wrote: 92 Points
a little young but wonderfully balanced wine -- will improve with time.
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11/3/2018 - BigGDaddy Likes this wine: 92 Points
This wine is delicious. So smooth and yummy. If you have never tried the Syrah from this region you need to do so. It’s not like the Syrah from CA; it’s a subtle, kinder and gentler variation that testifies to what terroir and climate can donto the same varietal.
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10/6/2018 - srh Likes this wine:
Winebar [4 Whites, 8 Reds, & 6 *shared* bottles] from 10/05/18 (Vintage Wines Ltd., San Diego, CA): Steve, THANK you for the chance to retaste this beauty that I'm HAPPILY cellaring! :)
Had been opened for perhaps an hr, then in my tasting glass for several more before I got to it
N: Closed; Smoke, ripe berries; Intensity lurking?
P: Med body; Very NICE frt met (fairly quickly) by an astringent pucker, but without EVER losing touch with the frt as it fairly seamlessly transitions into quite a LONG, tangy, very, VERY slightly bitter finish with an ELEGANT swtness to the very, VERY fine tannins. EXQUISITE! Needs/DESERVES through '21, then...? My EXC/EXC+. 97 pts Jeb Dunnuck, 94 Vinous (Raynolds) & Jeff Leve, 93+ WA, 93 Suckling. & 91 John Gilman. [Other than 1 outlier @$32.99, this vendor's $35.95 is at the HEAD of wine-searcher's large "class"!]
I also have consistent TNs on 4/21, 5/25, 5/26, & 7/14/18 for this potential masterpiece. ;)
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10/3/2018 - thesternowl Likes this wine: 93 Points
I had yet to try the 2015 Domaine de Thalabert when I noticed a bottle staring at me on the shelf at La Buvette so, naturally, I had to grab it. Popped and poured; served on the spot with Boeuf Bourgogne and Raclette with Paris Ham. Tightly wound at this stage but there’s a lot to like already. Blackberries, violets and black pepper on the nose. Blackberries, spices, savory smoked meat and minerals that suggested a dried blood-like quality on the palate. Firm but fine tannins. This bottle was very well liked by our crew and worked very well with our meal. I’m pleased to have some in my cellar.
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9/28/2018 - Vaughanwallace wrote: 91 Points
Needs time. Tightly wound. Rich but needs to open.
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9/19/2018 - Montana Likes this wine: 94 Points
This was a fabulous bottle of wine. Very rich and deeply flavorful.
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9/2/2018 - coremill wrote: 88 Points
Certainly suggests N. Rhone, with its nicely savory black fruit. Not horribly oaky, but showed enough wood that it seemed muddled and blurry to me, lacking definition and distinction. This wine got crazy critical reviews, and I don't get that at all.
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8/21/2018 - Motz wrote: 94 Points
This rides a striking line between ripeness and balance. The bouquet, attack, and middle feature a sumptuous forest berry amalgam (red, purple, and black), delightfully sweet and compellingly interwoven with the wine's lush tannins. The middle, back, and finish showcase place, even if partially shrouded behind the effusive berry medley. Indeed, at the transition from middle to back, the wine features green and cracked peppercorns, assorted olives, meatiness, scorched earth, and mineral ores. Ultra-charming and bordering on the ethereal, I do not recall tasting a more lush, fruit-forward, structured, and balanced North Rhone Syrah. And, even with all the fruit, this remains a wine of place, which adds to its uniqueness. The berry essences may well fade with time, revealing the wine's underlying substance. Likely to evolve for no less than a decade, twelve to fifteen years seems safe, and it might improve. 93-95.
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8/9/2018 - ledocq Likes this wine:
Had following an Elysian, which is like trying to follow the Marx Brothers.
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7/21/2018 - Eric.S Likes this wine:
Air, air, air! This needs air.
At first pop, astringency and tart, vaguely red fruit at the forefront. Decanted about six hours, and this deepened, smoke accents came out, more blackberry. Medium bodied, lingering finish. Clean.
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7/14/2018 - srh Likes this wine:
Winebar [4 Whites, 8 Reds, & 3 *shared* bottles] from 07/13/18 (Vintage Wines Ltd., San Diego, CA): N: Closed; Ripe, notes of minerals, flowers coming forward? Intensity lurking
P: Med body; NICE frt met by puckerish astringency which never TOTALLY overwhelms the initial frt as it fairly seamlessly transitions into the very LONG finish with hints of swtness to the dusty tannins. Noticing at least the BEGINNINGS (since 5/26/2018) of it shutting down? My EXC-/EXC. 97 pts Jeb Dunnuck, 94 Vinous & Jeff Leve, 93+ WA, and 93 Suckling. [This vendor's $35.95 is at the HEAD of wine-searcher's "class"!]
Addendum: Based upon tasting this again on 10/6/18, this likely just needed more air rather than showing the beginning of "shutting down".
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7/1/2018 - Dale M wrote: 93 Points
Decanted 8hrs. I spent a good 3 hrs with this bottle and I can say without reservation that if served blind, I could peg this as a Rhone 50% of the time… I’ll be here all week! try the veal! and don’t forget to tip your bartender. Ok, back to the wine, yes its ripe, but it’s a 2015 and though the sample size is pretty small, this in no way shape form stood out from its peers in the $50 and under from this vintage. Very forward on the nose, leans new world yes, first impact on the palate is pretty fruity for sure. But once you get past this point (which was very enjoyable) there was an overall buoyancy quality that was very appealing in how created a freshness – very easy to drink. True, it doesn’t have any olive or other roasted qualities, but it does have a very subtle mineral component that seemed to expand with each glass. Lots to enjoy today, better days tomorrow, very happy to have a couple more to see where this goes. a recent thread had the comment 'designed for 'Monktown palates' - I simply don't see that or I guess I'll start carrying my MP membership card.
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6/28/2018 - SMHalps Likes this wine: 92 Points
Popped 'n poured with my wine group. So much potential, and really good right now, but it needs another year to come together.
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5/26/2018 - srh Likes this wine:
Rhone Reds (Vintage Wines Ltd., San Diego, CA): N: Slightly closed; RIPE berries, minerals, rest tough to parse; Intensity lurking
P: LM body; LOVELY, almost swtish frt met by a puckerish astringency which slowly, fairly seamlessly transitions into quite a LONG, very, VERY slightly tangy finish with a swtness to the very, VERY fine tannins.
LOTS of potential here -- from its track record as WELL as what I've now tasted for the 3rd time in 5 wks. Count *ME* in as a "believer"! :) My EXC-/EXC. 97 pts Jeb Dunnuck, 94 Vinous & Jeff Leve, 93+ WA, and 93 Suckling. [This vendor's $35.95 is at the HEAD of wine-searcher's "class"!]
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5/25/2018 - srh Likes this wine:
Friday Tasting Group; Syrahs/Shirazes (Vintage Wines Ltd., San Diego, CA): N: Closed; Ripe berries, poss choc; Intensity lurking?
P: Med, poss LM, body; LOVELY frt fairly quickly met by a puckerish astringency that somehow NEVER loses its frt as it slowly, SEAMLESSLY transitions into the LONG, puckerish finish but with an ELEGANT swtness to its very, VERY fine tannins. Deserves/NEEDS into '21, though can EASILY *handle* more based upon its track record of longevity. My EXC. 97 pts Jeb Dunnuck, 94 Vinous & Jeff Leve, 93+ WA, and 93 Suckling. [This vendor's $35.95 is at the HEAD of wine-searcher's "class"!]
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5/17/2018 - Matt Scott Likes this wine: 94 Points
Decanted for two hours. Dark berry, lavender, braised duck, white pepper and ground granite. Latent at first, the nose and palate open up well after about three hours, with both displaying a lot of dimension. Succulent tannins, with a feathery frame. This causes a seditious feeling for those who say that Crozes-Hermitage is a mere shadow of its illustrious neighbor. Decant. Drink 2021 - 2034.
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5/13/2018 - Drankard Does not like this wine:
Typical and uninspiring Crozes-Hermitage. Just doesn't hold a candle to the Graillot.
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5/1/2018 - WoodieBayArea wrote: 89 Points
liked this but it suffered from being had on the night we also drank 1988 Guigal Cote Rotie La Mouline, of course - and notwithstanding the 2015 vintage - seemed a bit thin, decent wine and I think decent to good QPR... perhaps if we had it alone and in about two years it might garner a 91 or so (which for its $40 price tag is pretty good)
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4/25/2018 - Jeff Leve wrote: 94 Points
Spicy blackberries, pepper and underbrush aromas open the perfume. On the palate, the wine is rich, supple, full bodied round and mouth coating. This is a wow wine, especially when you consider the quality and cost ratio!
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4/21/2018 - srh Likes this wine:
Winebar [4 Whts, 8 Reds, & 4 Shared Bottles] from 4/30/18: N: CLOSED; Seems ripe with intensity lurking
P: Med body; Rndish entry with NICE, almost swtish frt fairly quickly met by a PUCKERISH astringency which continues into the LONG finish of the same flavors/textures -- but without EVER losing the swtness of the initial frt! Deserves/NEEDS into early '21, I'm guessing, then drinking for at LEAST 4+ yrs more. [Not having personally experienced previous vintages of this, I'm being conservative with respect to its ageability.] My EXC, eventually SOME level of EXCEPTIONALITY? 97 pts Jeb Dunnuck, 94 Vinous, 93+ WA, & 93 Suckling. [Only 1/38 of wine-searcher's current sources beats this vendor's $35.95!]
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4/15/2018 - Eriklainen wrote:
This one, compared to Nathalie Chaves Aleofane CH, this one is a by the book CH - there is ample fruit, well integrated oak and just sings with the acid. Grape-pits and slight herbal backdrop - more focus on the depth of everything instead of being floral and exciting (at the risk of being awkward). All in all - well made and could probably develop nicely, I don't have any more bottles and won't go looking for any either. Feels more extracted and powerful than previous vintage and perhaps not as elegant.
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3/31/2018 - Oechsle Likes this wine: 92 Points
Neutral wood, crisp plum, salty mineral profile with hints of green herbals. Fruit profile on the nose is clean but scare, Terroir driven scents here. Dark red fruits. Palate shows interesting profile, Metallic, saline, iodine, crisp blood, minerality. There are earthy dark red fruits trying to come forth. Expansive in the mouth. density yes but, underpinning acidity keeps it fresh and lite. Tannins there for support. When reading 97 point ratings, Best Ever Thalabert with age windows of 15+ years I don’t get it. There’s lots here to like but, this is not a fruit driven wine and as such what will this become in 10+ years? Tart, Lean Mineral? I’ve had Saint Joseph’s at the same price point with a richer denser core of fruit. Purchased as futures and enjoyed 60-70 with roasted beef…Drink over the next 8 years. Na zdrowie
Day 2 - What fruit there was evaporated, now shows tart mouth puckering acidity and the tannins are now coming on strong. Where are my Rolaids?
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3/30/2018 - Frijole wrote:
deep dark burgundy red, little clarity, ruby hue
Nose: plum, tobacco, cigar, earth, barnyard, chocolate, vanilla, green pepper, herbs, oak
Pal: plum, tobacco, cigar, earth, barnyard, chocolate, vanilla, green pepper, herbs, silver, tannins, oak
Feel: medium, full, savory, acidic
Finish: medium, full
T8 (could be a 9, Terroir)
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3/29/2018 - Rexel Likes this wine: 92 Points
Nose of berries, spicy herbs and fresh flowers.
Good acidity, well balanced, good mouthfeel with ok lenght.
Good value and good to drink now but will improve with time.
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3/27/2018 - STM82 wrote: 93 Points
Vibrant purple with a blue hue. Nose of tart berries, sandalwood, herb crusted pork, and purple flowers. Lovely seamless texture that really floats and glides along the palate. Similar notes follow to a somewhat medium finish which falls a bit short of expectations but the mid-palate is packed with the goods.
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12/29/2017 - dream Likes this wine: 92 Points
Captures the richness and ripeness of the vintage but with plenty of freshness and acidity to balance things out. Really ripe, delicious, thick and juicy with flavors of dark raspberry and garrigue. Finishes with fairly dry, chalky tannins and a beautiful spice note. This should shape up to be a great vintage of this great Crozes with a real track record for aging well. 92+
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