At this stage, the corks in these bottles are fragile -- be prepared for them to split or break. Ample sediment. Color is starting to change, still deep purple but with some brick around the edges. Fruit is softer but still full. Smooth and long-lasting finish.
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i can't say i love the new world fruit bombs like i used to. i think that ship has sailed. but, when new world producers get it right, they are wines to behold. ...the royal city just does everything right. it packs all kinds of juicy fruit and heavyweight punch. but it's not flabby or over-the-top. there's fantastic depth, complexity and balance. up front, it's blackberry and blueberry fruit which segues into an interesting savoury (is that olive?) flavour on the back end. after all these years, this continues to shine.
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Blueberry pie, fresh ripe blackberries, plum and eucalyptus, and a hint of black olives. Quite aromatic. Less savory notes (tobacco, bacon fat) and more fruit forward. Enjoyable, but I enjoyed the earthy elements that were more pronounced two years ago.
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Outstanding. We opened and poured. At first we we underwhelmed but after about an hour it opened up and was wonderful . Had a 2014 at the same time and it was great straight away and then the 2006 improved and was better than the 2014.
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kaboom! glass-staining dark purple black. massive fruity nose, like blackberry compote with all kinds of earthy, tarry and spicy notes in behind. texture is weighty, soft and round without ever being jammy. palate is both savoury and sweet all at once with secondary pepper and spice. new world syrah doesn’t get any better than this.
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So good. Deeep dark fruit, some syrah tang, still plenty of stuffing, but likely at apogee. Delicious. Drank with the National Championship on - Go Dawgs!
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Rich, soft, complex and layered. Nicely aged and in a good place. Popped and poured into glasses about 20 minutes before dinner. Needed a little more time but not much. Pretty much ready to drink.
Served with pork ribs done right. Fall off the bone tender with a hint of heat. Wine really worked well with it.
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A wonderful combination of black raspberry, plum, bacon fat, and roasted meat flavors. Silky tannins. Smooth and elegant finish. Lighter in body than I expected. Reminds me of crispy duck breast with a blackberry sauce.
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Outstanding uniqueness . A strong perfume of grenade, black currant, pepper and incense over all. Very decadent, subtle although strong and intoxicating . The taste is just a follow up with a strong body and structure, and an added chocolate and licorice. Long and harmonious
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Two hour decant. Color was purple and opaque with slow legs. On the nose black cherry, blackberry, and a medicinal note I cant’ quite get. On the palate, blackberries, prunes, plums and some oak, candied cherry and pomegranate way up front. Even after two hours was still a little reticent but finally started to o-en up with lots of blackberries, prunes and smooth tannins. Based on, what I’ve read seems bottle variance was quite substantial as my bottle, was pretty much pristine with a jet black cork at the end cap only. I had this with bone-in BBQ ribs with sweet potatoe fries and Tommy’s grilled veggies. Yum,yum.
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Perhaps a bit past it’s prime. Raisins and plums with minimal spice and tannin. Medium finish that features black fruit. Drink now or forever hold your peace.
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The longer it was open, the more it opened up. Would suggest to decant 3-4 hours at least. Not much nose but excellent flavors on the palette- dark stone fruit, espresso and slight hint of sea salt. Flavors were bold and stayed through finish. Outstanding example of WA Syrah.
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Real Wine with Real Food (Our House, White Plains): My last bottle of this wine was like a jack hammer to my forehead, but this has calmed down after an extra 8 years in the bottle. 3-1/2 hour decant with a second bottle into a large open mouthed glass pitcher. It has smoothed out but is still an oozing fruit monster, but a good monster at that. Not for the faint of heart, but I am not of the faint of heart. This wine is a simple gut check. If you are on the AFWE side of the aisle, STAY AWAY FROM THIS WINE. You might hurt yourself as you violently relieve yourself of all the flavors it puts into your mouth. However, if the idea of drinking a big red syrah with home ground lamb sliders with Ras el Hanout and other fresh ground spices, served wit a dollop of home made Tzatziki sauce does not cause you to run away with your tail between your legs, this is for you.
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Initially the nose was very off putting. That blew off and the wine opened up nicely. Obviously WA in a lineup of mostly French Rhones. The palate was rich, complex and decently long. Not a 100 point wine for me but very nice.
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I'm not seeing this as a 100pt bottle as it was declared upon release, but it is a wonderful example of washington syrah. Fruit still shines with a lot of power up front, but the finish is and endless. Not that complex, but very enjoyable. Tannins are fully resolved. I don't see this improving more, I think its time to drink. Notes written after being open one hour.
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Aired for about a half hour before drinking with dinner. Deep ruby color. Straight-forward strong fruit. Drinking well. Seems at or past its peak, so time to drink is now.
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This is holding up well. This is a good, not a great wine. We tasted it alongside a Reynvaan The Contender and Cayuse En Cerise and the lack of complexity in the Royal City was revealed. The fruit is tightly defined and certainly bold but there isn't much here in terms of secondary characteristics. Still, it is a good wine that seems to be in the middle of its drinking window.
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Stored in my cellar since purchase. I found this to be a huge fruit bomb without any real complexity. There were 5 of us and I don't believe anyone would have given this over 90 points (much less 100pts). Maybe it was just too big for our palates to pick up the nuances. Disappointed.
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Popped & poured, then drank 2nd half of bottle 3 hours later. Dense, dark wine has finally mellowed from years past tastings, ready to drink now, not sure it'll get better. Enjoy - smooth and delicious.
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Big, bold, bracing Syrah. Very dense fruit of dark berries and licorice. This has an interesting richness here with a fairly stiff backbone considering the age. I gave this a four hour decant and was surprised it didn't open more. But at the same time, it has a core of layered density. Will it get better with time? I can't wait to find out.
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Bad ass label. Very standard deep red, but with just a hint of brown due to age. Decanted for 1 hour before beginning, drank over the following 2 hours. Nose: Mildly aromatic, fruits tend to dominate with strawberry, raspberry, and just a little cherry. There's a whiff of smoke, too. Palate: Medium weight, nicely balanced acidity and earthy flavors. Rosemary, tar, smoke, bacon fat. Fruit is definitely secondary. Very smooth, tanins are fully integrated. It definitely talks like the vineyard designate it is. Finish: Invisible tanins keep the wine on the straight and narrow, and it's the smoke that really dominates the finish, along with the tar and maybe some pencil lead. This wine has maxed itself out in the improvement department, and I like where it's sitting. It probably has another year or two before it starts its downward slope, and it may evolve a bit still, but I wouldn't sit on it any longer. Easy to imagine it changing, but hard to image for the better.
It's incredibly overpriced. Even though it's three digits, it reminds me of a poor man's Gramercy or Waters which ring up at half the price. I think a factor in the cost is that it is a true single vineyard wine. I guess if I liked Stoneridge more I wouldn't mind the price tag. I've had the range of Charles Smith/K Vintners wines, and as the more expensive the bottle gets, the less impressed I am with it. Give me the MCK or Milbrant syrahs any day.
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Delicious in many respects: solid dark fruit, oak, anise, graphite notes; fragrant nose. A 'big' wine. Also a bit hot, however, which detracts from the overall impression. At least the way the wine is drinking now, hard to understand ratings of 95+.
Friends and I had this with grilled lamb chops on 8/23/13. It had a deep, layered and concentrated bouquet of smoked meat, black olive, blackberry, plum, licorice, pepper and spice aromas. The palate was rich, dense, layered and dry with flavors of blackberry, plum, black olive, mocha, licorice, pepper, spice and minerals.
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Who rated this 100 points? WE? An "ok" wine but not a 100 pointer, it totally lacks depth on the mid-palette. Showing a little hot right now but overall just average. But at this price point Saxum destroys it! Overall I do not think this wine is worth the price of admission... A wine group friend of mine thought it might be a bad bottle but it is the same as I got from the "Creator" of same vintage... another Charles Smith wine. And day 2 much, much worse.
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Delivers taste as promised, but also a learning experience for me. At this price point, when I hear "big" I'm thinking Lawrence of Arabia big. What this wine delivered was Avatar in 3-D Imax. Which is great, but it turns out I'm more a Lawrence of Arabia guy.
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Amazing wine. Decanted it for little over a hour. Need more time but I didn't care. Each glass got better & better as time passed. Beautiful nose. Nice dark fruit, with a little hint of tobacco, tannins were little tight as well as the acidity but again needed more time to open. That's why I also bought 2 bottles. Damn good wine!
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Decanted for 2 hours, rebottled and reopened at restaurant, decanted again and drank 2 hours later. Big fruit bomb, though tannins were smooth & diminished. Drank well on its own but too big when compared to the CDP's and Aussie Shiraz's we also drank.
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Like velvet. A bit of heat at first, which then blows off, and leaves a wonderful, sliky sarah - fruit forward and modern. Dark purple to the edge, chewy and just wonderful wine
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Voluminous, rich, and possessing significant depth of character. Very different from what I think of as a Walla Walla Syrah (I.e. Cayuse). This is the queen. Royal, stately, and opulent.
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Big, bold, and bodacious! Dark bright fruit, tobacco, oak, creosote, vanilla, and sweet herbs. An interesting over the top boozy sip. Not sure of any foods that could stand up to this. Extracted is a understatement. A fun sip for it's over indulgence.
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Nose so full of fruit it would be hard to peg as a syrah if blind. Fruit bomb to be blunt. Delicious to the end. Next time I may give more aeration to allow presumed underlying complexity to shine.
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NC Cindy Tasting, Rieslings, et al. (Chateau WineKnurd): Very, very dark purple in the glass with only the slightest trace of a reddish rim, the nose on this was apparent long before the glass was set down in front of me. Once there, it displayed huge and powerful black fruits and berries, bacon, spices - especially allspice, bay leaf, and even parsley - plus a nice bit of gaminess. The nose was simply spectacular, one of the most enticing I've ever experienced. The palate was only slightly less impressive, again with huge black plums, blackberry, and cassis, with plenty of big, but smooth and integrated, oak, lending sweet vanilla and buttered toast (excuse me, pain grillé) to the mix. The mid-palate held plenty of smooth, sweet tannin, but it was not impenetrable. While the wine was firey with plenty of alcohol, considering the 15.5% listed ABV, this was surprisingly well-contained, lending almost an extra element of spiciness, rather than being a liqueur-like distraction. There was a nice dimension of smokey meat, and plenty of acid to balance things out and keep the flavors focused. Huge flavors from front to back, but very well-balanced and while perhaps not elegant, at least adept and not bruising. Overall, this was plenty spectacular, especially considering that it is still relatively young and should actually have some room to improve, which is partly why I'm not quite ready to accept WE's 100-point score. I will say that if any bottle is worth $100, this would be it. Great wine.
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A brooding monster of blueberries, blackberries, chocolate, spices, pepper, and tar. The more I smell and taste, the more descriptors I get - black olive, petrol, bacon fat, black cherries... The tannins are round and ripe, but huge. They combine with the acid to form a structure that handles all this fruit and flavor and manages to find elegance and awesome length. Wow.
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(Opened 3 hours) This had the sweet buttered popcorn thing happening. A bit of alcohol noticed upon entry, this needed to be decanted or aerated for longer. Time in the glass and this showed a ripe blue-black fruit profile with some worn leather and crème de cassis. It was glossy and well structured. Alongside the pepper encrusted steak with Dijon sauce this simply ROCKED. Its balance deft, this now had tons goodness. The most food friendly wine on this table-- this night. Glad to have brought it and glad I have more.
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I wasn't sure what to expect having read other reviews suggesting this needed additional aging. This wasn't too big at all but had a dense core fruit that consisted of dark blueberry and subtle earth with a wonderful mid-palate. It has a nice finish and I found its nose to be a bit subdued compared to the wild nuances of Cayuse. I am anxious to compare the two and next time will open a bottle of each to compare side by side. Clearly an excellent wine but did not blow me away as expected considering the reviews and the price.
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Clear ruby in the glass. Nose is big with blackberry and pepper notes, raw meat, spice and constantly evolving complexity. Nice to just sit and sniff awhile.
Palate is big and fruity but with great complexity that evolves on the tongue to finish with impressive length.
Still the best syrah I have yet to taste.
Would buy again.
One note: drank this over 3 days and it was best on day 3. Bodes well for cellaring potential.
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i was expecting a beast. nose is a bit oily with dark berries dominated by blueberries. big to be sure but no overblown oak just pure ripe strong blueberry laden syrah with some spices and very nice acid. liked it a lot w food which is rare for me.
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Drank Mother's Day weekend--6 hour decant-no formal notes. Not sure if the wine is in a "dumb-phase" or if there's some bottle variation--but was not quite as blown away with this bottle as the last one. All-in-all a good syrah, but not the blockbuster it was upon release. My hopes are still high for remaining bottles--especially considering my first experience with this wine/vintage--will let sit for at least another year prior to trying again--may even wait 2-3 years.
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There must be bottle variation. Decanted for five hours. Very experienced wine lovers at my home for dinner and fine wine. We all agreed this wine was simply nothing special. Nose was muted and flavors were stunted. Obviously others here have experienced a great wine while others were underwhelmed. We were in the latter camp. I have one more bottle. Will open in a year or two to hopefully have a great experience.
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Probably the best Syrah I have tasted from Washington State! Tasted it the same evening as the bionic frog from Cayuse and same 2006 vintage. This was a completely different animal, and incredibly elegant with this finish that lasted for minutes. Paired it up with a filet and it did not disappoint...loads of complexity with chocolate and red/black currants dancing on my palate. Not a jammy wine at all, and the perfect balance of fruit, acidity, and tannin were definitely from an artist who has mastered bringing the best out of the syrah grape. Not a bad price on a list either at 210!
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I’ve been very anxious to try this and finally opened my first one when friends came over for beef stew on 5/1/11. It had a huge, powerful and beguiling bouquet of smoked meat, lavender, plum, blueberry, mocha, licorice and spice aromas. The palate was big, balanced and dusty dry with flavors that followed the nose. This was the groups WOTN.
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I guess I am one of the outliers on this wine. Opened bottle (did not decant) and drank intermitently over the next 4-5 hours. Bottle had some slight signs of seepage (probably from shipping) but was not at all cooked. A very bold wine that develops a real knockout nose with air. On the palate it is very concentrated with pure syrah fruit. But for my wife and I it seemed a bit disjointed with the fruit and alcohol just not in balance. Improved over time but well below what I would have expected given the ratings. Have a few more that I've hold for now.
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Washington Red Retrospective (Dennis' Place on Erie): Tied for wine of the night. Uber ripe and heady. Gorgeous pungent nose. So many layers of aromatics and flavors. Molasses, caramel, red vegetables both sweet and savory peppers. Maraschino cherries. Blue raspberry, chocolate, purple and red flowers, cotton candy. So incredibly plush. So balanced. Some light coffee play, light gray rocks, graphite. So awesome. So much royalty in this bottling. I was dizzy with emotion it was so good. Brioche and sugar cookie city should have been the name...sayin!
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paired with a roast garlic & herb crusted roast pork tenderloin, grilled asparagus and roast garlic mashed potatoes. Good pairing, but no real synergy.
Decanted15 or 20 minutes before drinking.
Excellent wine. Big, but not jammy. Well balance oak. Hints of leather, vanilla, currants.
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Tasted blindly in a cold climate syrah tasting. Opaque in color. Huge wine with massive fruit forward nose. Few non-fruit notes than most Ausies, but otherwise definitely a debate as to which it was. Sweet and invitiing with cofee and chocalate. Lots of complexity but nothing negative or distracting. Body matched the nose and was huge but smooth. Fruit, coffee mocha aboud. Almost sweet, though that may be the alcohol. Finish went on for half a minute or more, and it was georgous. Solid acids, but really well integratred. Certainly the best WA syrah I've tasted. PDQ
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This is the wow wine of the year for me so far and will be hard to beat. Considering we are in day 4 of the new year that's somewhat of a downer. Possibly the most complex and complete syrah I've had the opportunity to drink. Fabulous.
Big surprise at the tasting group tonight. Somebody wanted to bring a winner and boy did they. Thanks Doug.
This had a memorable nose, not what you would typically consider big but it certainly jumped from the glass in a softer, more complex way. Very complex nose that was continually evolving. I thought this was an older wine due to its softness, but the complexity and evolution kept drawing the nose back to the glass.
The palate was full and mouth coating with richness and complexity in spades. Fruit, meat, cinnamon spice, pepper, it's all there and then some.
The finish lasted minutes and evolved continuously. 2 minutes on and it was still beautiful.
The one negative, if you can call it that, was a comment that it was too big to serve with food. I couldn't think of a proper pairing at the time but really, with a wine this good, didn't care...
Would buy again.
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Sweet black fruit, with subtle sour soil notes on the nose. Good structure, albeit bitter at times. Moderate finish, repeating the sappy sweet fruit and creamy oak. Tense spine of acid keeping this honest. Good enough, but hard to appreciate knowing the price point. 2nd bottle of this and again, a bit too straightforward.
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Given its youth & anticipated largeness, decanted it for 12 hours then drank at restaurant 2 hours later. Was WOTN, beat the '06 Cayuse Frog. Tasted like a really great Pride, with rich sweet fruit and a hint of caramel finish. It was frickin' delicious! Next time I'm putting this up against one of my SQN Syrahs - it's that good!
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Impenetrably dark ruby in color and noticeably dense in the glass. Intense aromas of dark fruit that competed quite well against the oak, which was more than noticeable but not overbearing. Fleshy, creamy texture, having a good balance of alcohol and acidity to harmonize the smokiness and fruit. Long, long finish that is slightly astringent at this point. Give it 3-5 more years to allow the tannins to expand; however, I advise against waiting 10-15 years as many of the comments suggest. Score: 50 + 4 + 14 + 17 + 8
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4 hour double decant. Dark glossy and pure, this had an attack of elegant black fruits; macerated blackberry, pomegranate, with some Kirsch and bacon. Pretty and floral with elegance and super structure which belies its initial mouth feel (intense). Wonderful balance. Tannins big and brawny and in the back field. Long finish. Fantastic.
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drank this on my birthday. Probably the best Syrah I have ever had. this wine is HUGE! incredible nose, huge flavor, 60 second finish, complete and just powerful as all hell. not for the faint hearted.
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big expectations given the press... decanted for 2+ hrs. nose - of sweetness, of syrup, maraschino cherry, toffee, and caramel mouth - rich, full bodied, big wine, rich midpalate, bitter coffee, dark and red fruit, a touch bitter on the finish. If i had another bottle i'd hold it for 5 years. I thinks its a big wine, and good if you are into that sort of style, sadly for my palate i find it overoaked despite the big fruit. There's no way in my wildest dreams i could give it a "'wine advocate' ninety eight points" but nevertheless i think it does show the power and promise of washington state syrah.
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In a nutshell - bold beautiful and complex, and will only get that much better with time. Was decanted for two hours before poured, and another two or three hours would have been even more rewarding. The nose wasn't simply amazing, it was exciting, beguiling and always changing. At first, a big explosion of dark berry fruit, great amount of compote and big sweet blackberry syrup, but with a tarry, almost licorice undertone. Very portlike in it's profile, but not over the top sweet at all. Later more foresty earth, and a stoney (flint?) undertone took shape. But the nose never quit. The wine itself was just as complex, I thought of it as four dimensional it was so interesting. As big as it was though, the alcohol never overwhelmed. A wonderful midpalate of rough, big syrah fruit and embracing tannins (by no means soft but definitely approachable) carried the wine along, with a long finish of more dark fruit sweetness and subtle acids. Someday a 100 pointer is possible, but we're talking ten or more years.
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Stoneridge Vineyard, Royal Slope Columbia Valley - includes some of the Stoneridge Vineyard fruit and had flavors of coffee, milk chocolate, and black cherries. It was chewy and dense but well balanced and had some lovely spice notes on the back end.
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Powerful, deep, brooding aroma of olive tapenade. Densely packed black fruit, sweet cigar tobacco. Long, milk chocolate finish. Ripe, but not cloying thanks to clean acid and refined, powdery tannin. Layered, but so compressed, it may seem somewhat monolithic without adequate air. After a few hours, a finish of granite like minerality emerges, and hangs on. Very nice Syrah.
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Decant 2 hours, poured through Vintare Where do I start? I've never had a better wine: Balance, structure, complexity, restraint. No weaknesses. Nose: Changed almost every sniff: flowers, cigar box, plum peel, cedar, VANILLA, olives, cake; fruit is very nice - but just a background to everything else where it could be the main show...layer upon layer of interesting notes. Mouth: perfect. smoked meat, mushrooms, cinnamon, pepper, spices, herbs; perfect balance of tannins, acidity, etc. Finish: long, vibrant. Smell the fricking glass after finishing - vanilla cake lingers on and on. Seriously, what else do you want?!?!
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Store Four Cooking Demo (Store Four): Somewhat grapey. Does have some fun, funky flavors going on, but also seemed to show a little sweetness. I seem to be having less enjoyment with these wines every time I try them.
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Notes from day 2. Dark purple color. Nose is excellent with black and blue berries, lavender, herb, smoked bacon, graphite. On the palate there is so much going on with black currant, blackberry, vanilla, leather, olive, meat, cocoa on the tail. The finish is really long, definately new world, but not over the top IMO. This is a big boy that has a ton going on and really didn't improve drastically from day 1, so it will be interesting to see how this cellars. I will hold my other bottle for 5 years. Worth the tariff. Hold or drink. 50+5+14+19+9
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Tasted at House wine in Worthington Oh; pour from the vinoteque machine. WOWOWOWOW!!! This is an incredible single vineyard Wash Syrah. The Vanilla cream and Raspberry wash just coats your mouth for nearly 2 minutes on the finish. I could not see pairing this with food, as it's like desert in a bottle. Well worth the taste, but sticker shock may well prevent me from buying a bottle. Really an incredible experience.
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Intense and heavily structured. Wave after wave of massive fruit that thoroughly coats the palate and lasts for well over a minute. Despite it's youth--it is allready in perfect balance. I can't say one negative thing about it--just a great great wine--i can't imagine what it's going to be like with more bottle time. Compared very favorably if not better for my palate then the SQN Atlantis we had the week before--highly recommended esp at this price point. (decanted over 6 hours prior to drinking)
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Enjoyed over 2 days. I would try to give this wine 2 more years in the bottle before drinking. I get a PB&J sandwich on the nose, black fruit and spices are all interesting too. This wine is massively structured, with layers of flavors. There is an intense smokiness, almost fog like throughout. A long, lingering finish that finally gives way to the high, but well integrated, alcohol level.... hints of port.
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This wine was unreal. Massive structure and with berry, smoke, and pepper. Was a bomb in the mouth and the finish just went and went and went. Decanted for 3 hours prior to drinking with grilled kobe NY Strips. Wasn't sure this would live up to teh hype, but it surpassed it by far.
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Served by Charles at the Walla Walla Wine Auction Nov.6,2009. Bottles were not decanted, however they were open for 3-4 hrs and they were chilled on ice (I'm guessing serving temp. was some where between 57-62F). Fairly closed nose still. A lot of intense swirling of the wine coaxed out a great bouquet of blackberry, blueberry, meatiness, and cedar. This wine has an amazing balance between the fruit, acidity and alcohol. An ever evolving mouth feel. The bottles I have will not be opened for 3-4 years from now, this is not built for immediate consumption. I think this wine will get better with a couple years of bottle age, 100?
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I opened and decanted for one hour knowing that it probably wouldn't be ready. Boy was I right, nose was dominated by oak and sweet spices. One of the tightest wines I have ever tried (drank half of a glass). So I poured the wine back in the bottle, sealed it somewhat loosely to try on the 2nd night. 2nd night, the wine was closer to where it should be. Some of the oak influence was still in the aroma, but it was more of a smoky sweet bacon, butterscotch. The wine is very big, and the finish is extremely long (heat still noticeable, though). Aromas and palate match pretty well as I picked up flavors of bacon & smoke, with the addition of black licorice and black pepper. This wine reminds me a lot of my experiences with Syrah from Paso Robles or Central Coast... big, jammy, smoky, and hot. For my personal taste, I'd put this somewhere between Linne Calodo (liked) and Alban (loved).
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This was infanticide because I couldn't wait to try the recent delivery. BIG MISTAKE. One hour after decant, it's still very tight and giving up almost nothing. Bitter tanins make the mouth want to implode. But there seems to be a lot of intense flavor just waiting to escape. 13 hours after decant, I'm revisiting it. Begining to taste like syrah, with pepper, blueberry and cherry, but still bitterness in the mouth. I'm going to put the rest of them in deep storage. I normally like primary relatively new CA syrahs, but this is too raw.
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Decanted for 6+ hours; drank at Storyteller Wine Co. Featured as the $10 "Super Pour" at Storyteller's weekly Friday tasting event, this wine was a knockout. Even with over 6 hours of decanting, it was still over-the-top huge. Definitely not a fruitbomb though. So structured and layer upon layer of flavors: Cassis, blackberry, coffee, chocolate, black pepper, smoked meat, even a bit of a floral component in there. Quite tannic on the finish, drying the mouth slightly. Not overbearing, mind you, but definitely in need of some more bottle age to integrate more. I'd recommend another 3-5 years before opening a bottle. This wine seriously blew me away. I can't wait to get the 2 bottles I pre-ordered from the winery!
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Ultra-rich, and ultra-full bodied with nearly sweet flavors of plum, blackberry, and spring flowers. Palate drenching, this is intense and vibrant but still quite polished, lasting nearly forty seconds on the finish.
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Here is a very special offering that must not be ignored. It was dark, ominous, pure, elegant, super structured and just down right enjoyable. It is what many Syrahs can only dream of being. Look for it soon. It will be pricey $80ish) but well worth the tariff.
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4/21/2024 - Reblin Likes this wine: 94 Points
At this stage, the corks in these bottles are fragile -- be prepared for them to split or break. Ample sediment. Color is starting to change, still deep purple but with some brick around the edges. Fruit is softer but still full. Smooth and long-lasting finish.
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12/27/2023 - #1 or #2? Likes this wine: 95 Points
i can't say i love the new world fruit bombs like i used to. i think that ship has sailed. but, when new world producers get it right, they are wines to behold. ...the royal city just does everything right. it packs all kinds of juicy fruit and heavyweight punch. but it's not flabby or over-the-top. there's fantastic depth, complexity and balance. up front, it's blackberry and blueberry fruit which segues into an interesting savoury (is that olive?) flavour on the back end. after all these years, this continues to shine.
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12/18/2023 - OldHick95 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Blueberry pie, fresh ripe blackberries, plum and eucalyptus, and a hint of black olives. Quite aromatic. Less savory notes (tobacco, bacon fat) and more fruit forward. Enjoyable, but I enjoyed the earthy elements that were more pronounced two years ago.
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12/25/2022 - johnnyo wrote: 88 Points
Past its prime
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9/19/2022 - Emmet2 wrote: 96 Points
Outstanding. We opened and poured. At first we we underwhelmed but after about an hour it opened up and was wonderful . Had a 2014 at the same time and it was great straight away and then the 2006 improved and was better than the 2014.
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5/6/2022 - Drankthewholebottle Likes this wine: 100 Points
Yeah it don’t get no better.
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3/25/2022 - #1 or #2? Likes this wine: 95 Points
kaboom! glass-staining dark purple black. massive fruity nose, like blackberry compote with all kinds of earthy, tarry and spicy notes in behind. texture is weighty, soft and round without ever being jammy. palate is both savoury and sweet all at once with secondary pepper and spice. new world syrah doesn’t get any better than this.
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1/10/2022 - Bob23 Likes this wine: 94 Points
So good. Deeep dark fruit, some syrah tang, still plenty of stuffing, but likely at apogee. Delicious. Drank with the National Championship on - Go Dawgs!
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7/14/2021 - hiker_guy Likes this wine:
Last one from purchased lot upon release.
Rich, soft, complex and layered. Nicely aged and in a good place.
Popped and poured into glasses about 20 minutes before dinner. Needed a little more time but not much. Pretty much ready to drink.
Served with pork ribs done right. Fall off the bone tender with a hint of heat. Wine really worked well with it.
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5/29/2021 - OldHick95 Likes this wine: 96 Points
A wonderful combination of black raspberry, plum, bacon fat, and roasted meat flavors. Silky tannins. Smooth and elegant finish. Lighter in body than I expected. Reminds me of crispy duck breast with a blackberry sauce.
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4/6/2020 - SlimShaney Likes this wine: 96 Points
A very serious medicinal wine. Deeply concentrated solving dark matter mystery of the universe problems.
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3/28/2020 - FrançoisZ Likes this wine: 98 Points
Outstanding uniqueness . A strong perfume of grenade, black currant, pepper and incense over all. Very decadent, subtle although strong and intoxicating . The taste is just a follow up with a strong body and structure, and an added chocolate and licorice. Long and harmonious
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2/6/2020 - Radboy wrote: 96 Points
Fabulous bottle of wine that has steadily improved with time.
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12/15/2019 - redhead6971 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Two hour decant. Color was purple and opaque with slow legs. On the nose black cherry, blackberry, and a medicinal note I cant’ quite get. On the palate, blackberries, prunes, plums and some oak, candied cherry and pomegranate way up front. Even after two hours was still a little reticent but finally started to o-en up with lots of blackberries, prunes and smooth tannins. Based on, what I’ve read seems bottle variance was quite substantial as my bottle, was pretty much pristine with a jet black cork at the end cap only. I had this with bone-in BBQ ribs with sweet potatoe fries and Tommy’s grilled veggies. Yum,yum.
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12/6/2019 - Jake112380 wrote: 89 Points
Perhaps a bit past it’s prime. Raisins and plums with minimal spice and tannin. Medium finish that features black fruit. Drink now or forever hold your peace.
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5/20/2018 - danielbleier Likes this wine: 95 Points
really lovely, and not as overpowering as you might expect. Blackberry, black currant, and grilled meats.
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4/1/2018 - mebarry wrote: 95 Points
The longer it was open, the more it opened up. Would suggest to decant 3-4 hours at least.
Not much nose but excellent flavors on the palette- dark stone fruit, espresso and slight hint of sea salt. Flavors were bold and stayed through finish. Outstanding example of WA Syrah.
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1/14/2018 - Reblin Likes this wine: 95 Points
Big, bold, delicious. Full, ripe fruit; long finish. Opened about 4 hours before drinking.
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7/1/2017 - J @ y H @ c k Likes this wine: 94 Points
Real Wine with Real Food (Our House, White Plains): My last bottle of this wine was like a jack hammer to my forehead, but this has calmed down after an extra 8 years in the bottle. 3-1/2 hour decant with a second bottle into a large open mouthed glass pitcher. It has smoothed out but is still an oozing fruit monster, but a good monster at that. Not for the faint of heart, but I am not of the faint of heart. This wine is a simple gut check. If you are on the AFWE side of the aisle, STAY AWAY FROM THIS WINE. You might hurt yourself as you violently relieve yourself of all the flavors it puts into your mouth. However, if the idea of drinking a big red syrah with home ground lamb sliders with Ras el Hanout and other fresh ground spices, served wit a dollop of home made Tzatziki sauce does not cause you to run away with your tail between your legs, this is for you.
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12/26/2016 - Radboy wrote: 94 Points
This is drinking really well and stood up with two '11 Cayuse Syrahs.
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8/2/2016 - hiker_guy Likes this wine:
Initially the nose was very off putting. That blew off and the wine opened up nicely. Obviously WA in a lineup of mostly French Rhones. The palate was rich, complex and decently long. Not a 100 point wine for me but very nice.
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7/13/2016 - KenK Likes this wine: 94 Points
A big boy wine full of jammy red flavors and lushness. A fruit bomb with nice balance and spice. Evaporated quickly as bottle emptied quickly.
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4/24/2016 - putter520 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Big wine. Decanted for an hour, served with steak. Perfect match.
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1/8/2016 - Curt Jacques Likes this wine: 95 Points
I'm not seeing this as a 100pt bottle as it was declared upon release, but it is a wonderful example of washington syrah. Fruit still shines with a lot of power up front, but the finish is and endless. Not that complex, but very enjoyable. Tannins are fully resolved. I don't see this improving more, I think its time to drink. Notes written after being open one hour.
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12/11/2015 - miker02 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Aired for about a half hour before drinking with dinner. Deep ruby color. Straight-forward strong fruit. Drinking well. Seems at or past its peak, so time to drink is now.
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6/6/2015 - Radboy wrote: 92 Points
This is holding up well. This is a good, not a great wine. We tasted it alongside a Reynvaan The Contender and Cayuse En Cerise and the lack of complexity in the Royal City was revealed. The fruit is tightly defined and certainly bold but there isn't much here in terms of secondary characteristics. Still, it is a good wine that seems to be in the middle of its drinking window.
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12/20/2014 - MWes Does not like this wine: 89 Points
Stored in my cellar since purchase. I found this to be a huge fruit bomb without any real complexity. There were 5 of us and I don't believe anyone would have given this over 90 points (much less 100pts). Maybe it was just too big for our palates to pick up the nuances. Disappointed.
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12/6/2014 - patwjr Likes this wine: 94 Points
Popped & poured, then drank 2nd half of bottle 3 hours later. Dense, dark wine has finally mellowed from years past tastings, ready to drink now, not sure it'll get better. Enjoy - smooth and delicious.
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9/9/2014 - InflationHedge Likes this wine: 95 Points
Stellar bottle of wine and drinking superbly. I dont have my notes, but i i get the chance to buy again I definitely will.
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6/28/2014 - Radboy wrote: 93 Points
Big, bold, bracing Syrah. Very dense fruit of dark berries and licorice. This has an interesting richness here with a fairly stiff backbone considering the age. I gave this a four hour decant and was surprised it didn't open more. But at the same time, it has a core of layered density. Will it get better with time? I can't wait to find out.
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5/7/2014 - goodvitis.com Likes this wine: 91 Points
Bad ass label. Very standard deep red, but with just a hint of brown due to age. Decanted for 1 hour before beginning, drank over the following 2 hours. Nose: Mildly aromatic, fruits tend to dominate with strawberry, raspberry, and just a little cherry. There's a whiff of smoke, too. Palate: Medium weight, nicely balanced acidity and earthy flavors. Rosemary, tar, smoke, bacon fat. Fruit is definitely secondary. Very smooth, tanins are fully integrated. It definitely talks like the vineyard designate it is. Finish: Invisible tanins keep the wine on the straight and narrow, and it's the smoke that really dominates the finish, along with the tar and maybe some pencil lead. This wine has maxed itself out in the improvement department, and I like where it's sitting. It probably has another year or two before it starts its downward slope, and it may evolve a bit still, but I wouldn't sit on it any longer. Easy to imagine it changing, but hard to image for the better.
It's incredibly overpriced. Even though it's three digits, it reminds me of a poor man's Gramercy or Waters which ring up at half the price. I think a factor in the cost is that it is a true single vineyard wine. I guess if I liked Stoneridge more I wouldn't mind the price tag. I've had the range of Charles Smith/K Vintners wines, and as the more expensive the bottle gets, the less impressed I am with it. Give me the MCK or Milbrant syrahs any day.
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11/2/2013 - Reblin Likes this wine: 92 Points
Delicious in many respects: solid dark fruit, oak, anise, graphite notes; fragrant nose. A 'big' wine. Also a bit hot, however, which detracts from the overall impression. At least the way the wine is drinking now, hard to understand ratings of 95+.
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8/23/2013 - garambler wrote: 96 Points
Friends and I had this with grilled lamb chops on 8/23/13. It had a deep, layered and concentrated bouquet of smoked meat, black olive, blackberry, plum, licorice, pepper and spice aromas. The palate was rich, dense, layered and dry with flavors of blackberry, plum, black olive, mocha, licorice, pepper, spice and minerals.
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6/29/2013 - memphishusky Likes this wine:
Great Syrah
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5/18/2013 - cepageyakima wrote: 91 Points
Who rated this 100 points? WE? An "ok" wine but not a 100 pointer, it totally lacks depth on the mid-palette. Showing a little hot right now but overall just average. But at this price point Saxum destroys it! Overall I do not think this wine is worth the price of admission... A wine group friend of mine thought it might be a bad bottle but it is the same as I got from the "Creator" of same vintage... another Charles Smith wine. And day 2 much, much worse.
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4/6/2013 - ledocq Likes this wine:
Delivers taste as promised, but also a learning experience for me. At this price point, when I hear "big" I'm thinking Lawrence of Arabia big. What this wine delivered was Avatar in 3-D Imax. Which is great, but it turns out I'm more a Lawrence of Arabia guy.
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2/23/2013 - Louisville Vino Likes this wine: 95 Points
Amazing wine. Decanted it for little over a hour. Need more time but I didn't care. Each glass got better & better as time passed. Beautiful nose. Nice dark fruit, with a little hint of tobacco, tannins were little tight as well as the acidity but again needed more time to open. That's why I also bought 2 bottles. Damn good wine!
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2/2/2013 - johnnyo wrote: 93 Points
Very nice but perhaps it in an awkward stage as it was missing depth of flavor for such a premium wine.
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1/24/2013 - patwjr Likes this wine: 95 Points
Decanted for 2 hours, rebottled and reopened at restaurant, decanted again and drank 2 hours later. Big fruit bomb, though tannins were smooth & diminished. Drank well on its own but too big when compared to the CDP's and Aussie Shiraz's we also drank.
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1/6/2013 - G-Man555 Likes this wine: 97 Points
Like velvet. A bit of heat at first, which then blows off, and leaves a wonderful, sliky sarah - fruit forward and modern. Dark purple to the edge, chewy and just wonderful wine
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12/20/2012 - jhieb Likes this wine: 95 Points
Voluminous, rich, and possessing significant depth of character. Very different from what I think of as a Walla Walla Syrah (I.e. Cayuse). This is the queen. Royal, stately, and opulent.
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10/22/2012 - Vinsant wrote:
Big, bold, and bodacious! Dark bright fruit, tobacco, oak, creosote, vanilla, and sweet herbs. An interesting over the top boozy sip. Not sure of any foods that could stand up to this. Extracted is a understatement. A fun sip for it's over indulgence.
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3/9/2012 - Dr. Pato wrote: 96 Points
Nose so full of fruit it would be hard to peg as a syrah if blind. Fruit bomb to be blunt. Delicious to the end. Next time I may give more aeration to allow presumed underlying complexity to shine.
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2/14/2012 - davidrmcgee wrote: 97 Points
Long, fresh, fruity. Full of vim. Shared a couple glasses with the staff who were out of this world and over their heals for Chuck. ;-)
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1/28/2012 - Phredd Likes this wine: 95 Points
NC Cindy Tasting, Rieslings, et al. (Chateau WineKnurd): Very, very dark purple in the glass with only the slightest trace of a reddish rim, the nose on this was apparent long before the glass was set down in front of me. Once there, it displayed huge and powerful black fruits and berries, bacon, spices - especially allspice, bay leaf, and even parsley - plus a nice bit of gaminess. The nose was simply spectacular, one of the most enticing I've ever experienced. The palate was only slightly less impressive, again with huge black plums, blackberry, and cassis, with plenty of big, but smooth and integrated, oak, lending sweet vanilla and buttered toast (excuse me, pain grillé) to the mix. The mid-palate held plenty of smooth, sweet tannin, but it was not impenetrable. While the wine was firey with plenty of alcohol, considering the 15.5% listed ABV, this was surprisingly well-contained, lending almost an extra element of spiciness, rather than being a liqueur-like distraction. There was a nice dimension of smokey meat, and plenty of acid to balance things out and keep the flavors focused. Huge flavors from front to back, but very well-balanced and while perhaps not elegant, at least adept and not bruising. Overall, this was plenty spectacular, especially considering that it is still relatively young and should actually have some room to improve, which is partly why I'm not quite ready to accept WE's 100-point score. I will say that if any bottle is worth $100, this would be it. Great wine.
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1/25/2012 - Colia wrote: 97 Points
A brooding monster of blueberries, blackberries, chocolate, spices, pepper, and tar. The more I smell and taste, the more descriptors I get - black olive, petrol, bacon fat, black cherries... The tannins are round and ripe, but huge. They combine with the acid to form a structure that handles all this fruit and flavor and manages to find elegance and awesome length. Wow.
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12/15/2011 - King Cab wrote:
(Opened 3 hours) This had the sweet buttered popcorn thing happening. A bit of alcohol noticed upon entry, this needed to be decanted or aerated for longer. Time in the glass and this showed a ripe blue-black fruit profile with some worn leather and crème de cassis. It was glossy and well structured. Alongside the pepper encrusted steak with Dijon sauce this simply ROCKED. Its balance deft, this now had tons goodness. The most food friendly wine on this table-- this night. Glad to have brought it and glad I have more.
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10/11/2011 - Radboy wrote: 94 Points
I wasn't sure what to expect having read other reviews suggesting this needed additional aging. This wasn't too big at all but had a dense core fruit that consisted of dark blueberry and subtle earth with a wonderful mid-palate. It has a nice finish and I found its nose to be a bit subdued compared to the wild nuances of Cayuse. I am anxious to compare the two and next time will open a bottle of each to compare side by side. Clearly an excellent wine but did not blow me away as expected considering the reviews and the price.
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7/27/2011 - hiker_guy wrote:
Clear ruby in the glass.
Nose is big with blackberry and pepper notes, raw meat, spice and constantly evolving complexity. Nice to just sit and sniff awhile.
Palate is big and fruity but with great complexity that evolves on the tongue to finish with impressive length.
Still the best syrah I have yet to taste.
Would buy again.
One note:
drank this over 3 days and it was best on day 3. Bodes well for cellaring potential.
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7/22/2011 - Uglypinga wrote:
i was expecting a beast. nose is a bit oily with dark berries dominated by blueberries. big to be sure but no overblown oak just pure ripe strong blueberry laden syrah with some spices and very nice acid. liked it a lot w food which is rare for me.
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6/27/2011 - slmshdyms wrote: 91 Points
Drank Mother's Day weekend--6 hour decant-no formal notes. Not sure if the wine is in a "dumb-phase" or if there's some bottle variation--but was not quite as blown away with this bottle as the last one. All-in-all a good syrah, but not the blockbuster it was upon release. My hopes are still high for remaining bottles--especially considering my first experience with this wine/vintage--will let sit for at least another year prior to trying again--may even wait 2-3 years.
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5/29/2011 - vintage1949 wrote: 89 Points
There must be bottle variation. Decanted for five hours. Very experienced wine lovers at my home for dinner and fine wine. We all agreed this wine was simply nothing special. Nose was muted and flavors were stunted. Obviously others here have experienced a great wine while others were underwhelmed. We were in the latter camp. I have one more bottle. Will open in a year or two to hopefully have a great experience.
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5/22/2011 - fullpint wrote: 98 Points
Probably the best Syrah I have tasted from Washington State! Tasted it the same evening as the bionic frog from Cayuse and same 2006 vintage. This was a completely different animal, and incredibly elegant with this finish that lasted for minutes. Paired it up with a filet and it did not disappoint...loads of complexity with chocolate and red/black currants dancing on my palate. Not a jammy wine at all, and the perfect balance of fruit, acidity, and tannin were definitely from an artist who has mastered bringing the best out of the syrah grape. Not a bad price on a list either at 210!
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5/6/2011 - ChinonRouge wrote: 89 Points
Not at all memorable. Glad it is out of the cellar. Make room for something good.
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5/1/2011 - garambler Likes this wine: 97 Points
I’ve been very anxious to try this and finally opened my first one when friends came over for beef stew on 5/1/11. It had a huge, powerful and beguiling bouquet of smoked meat, lavender, plum, blueberry, mocha, licorice and spice aromas. The palate was big, balanced and dusty dry with flavors that followed the nose. This was the groups WOTN.
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2/27/2011 - Vinophiler wrote: 92 Points
I guess I am one of the outliers on this wine. Opened bottle (did not decant) and drank intermitently over the next 4-5 hours. Bottle had some slight signs of seepage (probably from shipping) but was not at all cooked. A very bold wine that develops a real knockout nose with air. On the palate it is very concentrated with pure syrah fruit. But for my wife and I it seemed a bit disjointed with the fruit and alcohol just not in balance. Improved over time but well below what I would have expected given the ratings. Have a few more that I've hold for now.
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2/20/2011 - beezer6 wrote: 98 Points
Washington Red Retrospective (Dennis' Place on Erie): Tied for wine of the night. Uber ripe and heady. Gorgeous pungent nose. So many layers of aromatics and flavors.
Molasses, caramel, red vegetables both sweet and savory peppers. Maraschino cherries.
Blue raspberry, chocolate, purple and red flowers, cotton candy. So incredibly plush. So balanced.
Some light coffee play, light gray rocks, graphite. So awesome. So much royalty in this bottling. I was dizzy with emotion it was so good.
Brioche and sugar cookie city should have been the name...sayin!
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2/12/2011 - rjc3 Likes this wine: 95 Points
paired with a roast garlic & herb crusted roast pork tenderloin, grilled asparagus and roast garlic mashed potatoes. Good pairing, but no real synergy.
Decanted15 or 20 minutes before drinking.
Excellent wine. Big, but not jammy. Well balance oak. Hints of leather, vanilla, currants.
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1/15/2011 - shadow wrote: 96 Points
WOTN, wow, beat out a group of contenders, this is the real deal, right blend, fruit, mouth feel, smooth finish, yummmm
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1/5/2011 - pdemaio wrote: 96 Points
Tasted blindly in a cold climate syrah tasting. Opaque in color. Huge wine with massive fruit forward nose. Few non-fruit notes than most Ausies, but otherwise definitely a debate as to which it was. Sweet and invitiing with cofee and chocalate. Lots of complexity but nothing negative or distracting. Body matched the nose and was huge but smooth. Fruit, coffee mocha aboud. Almost sweet, though that may be the alcohol. Finish went on for half a minute or more, and it was georgous. Solid acids, but really well integratred. Certainly the best WA syrah I've tasted. PDQ
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1/4/2011 - hiker_guy wrote:
wow, wow, wow.
This is the wow wine of the year for me so far and will be hard to beat. Considering we are in day 4 of the new year that's somewhat of a downer.
Possibly the most complex and complete syrah I've had the opportunity to drink. Fabulous.
Big surprise at the tasting group tonight. Somebody wanted to bring a winner and boy did they. Thanks Doug.
This had a memorable nose, not what you would typically consider big but it certainly jumped from the glass in a softer, more complex way. Very complex nose that was continually evolving. I thought this was an older wine due to its softness, but the complexity and evolution kept drawing the nose back to the glass.
The palate was full and mouth coating with richness and complexity in spades. Fruit, meat, cinnamon spice, pepper, it's all there and then some.
The finish lasted minutes and evolved continuously. 2 minutes on and it was still beautiful.
The one negative, if you can call it that, was a comment that it was too big to serve with food. I couldn't think of a proper pairing at the time but really, with a wine this good, didn't care...
Would buy again.
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12/29/2010 - goldscalpel wrote:
8-hour decant: Dark ruby color; Blackberry, pomegranate; Big texture
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10/31/2010 - bonedocnine wrote: 89 Points
wow, thought is was supposed to be a 100 pointer! Not so good.
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10/25/2010 - Jody Smith wrote:
Sweet black fruit, with subtle sour soil notes on the
nose. Good structure, albeit bitter at times. Moderate finish, repeating the sappy sweet fruit and creamy oak. Tense spine of acid keeping this honest. Good enough, but hard to appreciate knowing the price point. 2nd bottle of this and again, a bit too straightforward.
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10/15/2010 - patwjr wrote: 97 Points
Given its youth & anticipated largeness, decanted it for 12 hours then drank at restaurant 2 hours later. Was WOTN, beat the '06 Cayuse Frog. Tasted like a really great Pride, with rich sweet fruit and a hint of caramel finish. It was frickin' delicious! Next time I'm putting this up against one of my SQN Syrahs - it's that good!
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9/22/2010 - pc1981 wrote: 93 Points
Impenetrably dark ruby in color and noticeably dense in the glass. Intense aromas of dark fruit that competed quite well against the oak, which was more than noticeable but not overbearing. Fleshy, creamy texture, having a good balance of alcohol and acidity to harmonize the smokiness and fruit. Long, long finish that is slightly astringent at this point. Give it 3-5 more years to allow the tannins to expand; however, I advise against waiting 10-15 years as many of the comments suggest. Score: 50 + 4 + 14 + 17 + 8
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9/2/2010 - King Cab wrote: 95 Points
4 hour double decant. Dark glossy and pure, this had an attack of elegant black fruits; macerated blackberry, pomegranate, with some Kirsch and bacon. Pretty and floral with elegance and super structure which belies its initial mouth feel (intense). Wonderful balance. Tannins big and brawny and in the back field. Long finish. Fantastic.
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8/29/2010 - Nedder_travels_the_world wrote: 100 Points
drank this on my birthday. Probably the best Syrah I have ever had. this wine is HUGE! incredible nose, huge flavor, 60 second finish, complete and just powerful as all hell. not for the faint hearted.
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8/5/2010 - soyhead wrote: 91 Points
big expectations given the press... decanted for 2+ hrs.
nose - of sweetness, of syrup, maraschino cherry, toffee, and caramel
mouth - rich, full bodied, big wine, rich midpalate, bitter coffee, dark and red fruit, a touch bitter on the finish.
If i had another bottle i'd hold it for 5 years. I thinks its a big wine, and good if you are into that sort of style, sadly for my palate i find it overoaked despite the big fruit. There's no way in my wildest dreams i could give it a "'wine advocate' ninety eight points" but nevertheless i think it does show the power and promise of washington state syrah.
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7/30/2010 - Mr.Overhill wrote: 98 Points
In a nutshell - bold beautiful and complex, and will only get that much better with time. Was decanted for two hours before poured, and another two or three hours would have been even more rewarding. The nose wasn't simply amazing, it was exciting, beguiling and always changing. At first, a big explosion of dark berry fruit, great amount of compote and big sweet blackberry syrup, but with a tarry, almost licorice undertone. Very portlike in it's profile, but not over the top sweet at all. Later more foresty earth, and a stoney (flint?) undertone took shape. But the nose never quit. The wine itself was just as complex, I thought of it as four dimensional it was so interesting. As big as it was though, the alcohol never overwhelmed. A wonderful midpalate of rough, big syrah fruit and embracing tannins (by no means soft but definitely approachable) carried the wine along, with a long finish of more dark fruit sweetness and subtle acids. Someday a 100 pointer is possible, but we're talking ten or more years.
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7/26/2010 - jinks wrote: 98 Points
Similar to previous. Will hold last bottle a while!
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6/10/2010 - winebratsf wrote:
Stoneridge Vineyard, Royal Slope Columbia Valley - includes some of the Stoneridge Vineyard fruit and had flavors of coffee, milk chocolate, and black cherries. It was chewy and dense but well balanced and had some lovely spice notes on the back end.
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5/15/2010 - j.michael.kilgore wrote: 93 Points
Delightful, and probably too young
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4/13/2010 - Jody Smith wrote: 91 Points
Powerful, deep, brooding aroma of olive tapenade. Densely packed black fruit, sweet cigar tobacco. Long, milk chocolate finish. Ripe, but not cloying thanks to clean acid and refined, powdery tannin. Layered, but so compressed, it may seem somewhat monolithic without adequate air. After a few hours, a finish of granite like minerality emerges, and hangs on. Very nice Syrah.
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3/18/2010 - jinks wrote: 99 Points
Decant 2 hours, poured through Vintare
Where do I start? I've never had a better wine: Balance, structure, complexity, restraint. No weaknesses.
Nose: Changed almost every sniff: flowers, cigar box, plum peel, cedar, VANILLA, olives, cake; fruit is very nice - but just a background to everything else where it could be the main show...layer upon layer of interesting notes.
Mouth: perfect. smoked meat, mushrooms, cinnamon, pepper, spices, herbs; perfect balance of tannins, acidity, etc.
Finish: long, vibrant.
Smell the fricking glass after finishing - vanilla cake lingers on and on.
Seriously, what else do you want?!?!
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3/9/2010 - hutch wrote: 90 Points
Store Four Cooking Demo (Store Four): Somewhat grapey. Does have some fun, funky flavors going on, but also seemed to show a little sweetness. I seem to be having less enjoyment with these wines every time I try them.
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2/14/2010 - manonthemoon wrote: 97 Points
Notes from day 2. Dark purple color. Nose is excellent with black and blue berries, lavender, herb, smoked bacon, graphite. On the palate there is so much going on with black currant, blackberry, vanilla, leather, olive, meat, cocoa on the tail. The finish is really long, definately new world, but not over the top IMO. This is a big boy that has a ton going on and really didn't improve drastically from day 1, so it will be interesting to see how this cellars. I will hold my other bottle for 5 years. Worth the tariff. Hold or drink. 50+5+14+19+9
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2/13/2010 - mpricher wrote: 96 Points
Tasted at House wine in Worthington Oh; pour from the vinoteque machine. WOWOWOWOW!!! This is an incredible single vineyard Wash Syrah. The Vanilla cream and Raspberry wash just coats your mouth for nearly 2 minutes on the finish. I could not see pairing this with food, as it's like desert in a bottle. Well worth the taste, but sticker shock may well prevent me from buying a bottle. Really an incredible experience.
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2/13/2010 - slmshdyms wrote: 100 Points
Intense and heavily structured. Wave after wave of massive fruit that thoroughly coats the palate and lasts for well over a minute. Despite it's youth--it is allready in perfect balance. I can't say one negative thing about it--just a great great wine--i can't imagine what it's going to be like with more bottle time. Compared very favorably if not better for my palate then the SQN Atlantis we had the week before--highly recommended esp at this price point. (decanted over 6 hours prior to drinking)
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2/10/2010 - jdabrowski1027 wrote: 97 Points
Enjoyed over 2 days. I would try to give this wine 2 more years in the bottle before drinking. I get a PB&J sandwich on the nose, black fruit and spices are all interesting too. This wine is massively structured, with layers of flavors. There is an intense smokiness, almost fog like throughout. A long, lingering finish that finally gives way to the high, but well integrated, alcohol level.... hints of port.
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2/8/2010 - Penguin3200 wrote: 100 Points
This wine was unreal. Massive structure and with berry, smoke, and pepper. Was a bomb in the mouth and the finish just went and went and went. Decanted for 3 hours prior to drinking with grilled kobe NY Strips. Wasn't sure this would live up to teh hype, but it surpassed it by far.
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12/17/2009 - GJ-captures wrote: 99 Points
Served by Charles at the Walla Walla Wine Auction Nov.6,2009. Bottles were not decanted, however they were open for 3-4 hrs and they were chilled on ice (I'm guessing serving temp. was some where between 57-62F). Fairly closed nose still. A lot of intense swirling of the wine coaxed out a great bouquet of blackberry, blueberry, meatiness, and cedar. This wine has an amazing balance between the fruit, acidity and alcohol. An ever evolving mouth feel. The bottles I have will not be opened for 3-4 years from now, this is not built for immediate consumption. I think this wine will get better with a couple years of bottle age, 100?
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12/5/2009 - eric42 wrote: 90 Points
I opened and decanted for one hour knowing that it probably wouldn't be ready. Boy was I right, nose was dominated by oak and sweet spices. One of the tightest wines I have ever tried (drank half of a glass). So I poured the wine back in the bottle, sealed it somewhat loosely to try on the 2nd night.
2nd night, the wine was closer to where it should be. Some of the oak influence was still in the aroma, but it was more of a smoky sweet bacon, butterscotch. The wine is very big, and the finish is extremely long (heat still noticeable, though). Aromas and palate match pretty well as I picked up flavors of bacon & smoke, with the addition of black licorice and black pepper.
This wine reminds me a lot of my experiences with Syrah from Paso Robles or Central Coast... big, jammy, smoky, and hot.
For my personal taste, I'd put this somewhere between Linne Calodo (liked) and Alban (loved).
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11/26/2009 - J @ y H @ c k wrote:
This was infanticide because I couldn't wait to try the recent delivery. BIG MISTAKE. One hour after decant, it's still very tight and giving up almost nothing. Bitter tanins make the mouth want to implode. But there seems to be a lot of intense flavor just waiting to escape. 13 hours after decant, I'm revisiting it. Begining to taste like syrah, with pepper, blueberry and cherry, but still bitterness in the mouth. I'm going to put the rest of them in deep storage. I normally like primary relatively new CA syrahs, but this is too raw.
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10/16/2009 - RPerro wrote: 99 Points
Decanted for 6+ hours; drank at Storyteller Wine Co. Featured as the $10 "Super Pour" at Storyteller's weekly Friday tasting event, this wine was a knockout. Even with over 6 hours of decanting, it was still over-the-top huge. Definitely not a fruitbomb though. So structured and layer upon layer of flavors: Cassis, blackberry, coffee, chocolate, black pepper, smoked meat, even a bit of a floral component in there. Quite tannic on the finish, drying the mouth slightly. Not overbearing, mind you, but definitely in need of some more bottle age to integrate more. I'd recommend another 3-5 years before opening a bottle. This wine seriously blew me away. I can't wait to get the 2 bottles I pre-ordered from the winery!
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9/27/2009 - wino_tim wrote: 93 Points
Ultra-rich, and ultra-full bodied with nearly sweet flavors of plum, blackberry, and spring flowers. Palate drenching, this is intense and vibrant but still quite polished, lasting nearly forty seconds on the finish.
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9/5/2009 - stlbites wrote: 94 Points
Too young. Took several hours to let loose some fruit but it's going to be awesome someday.
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5/1/2009 - King Cab wrote: 94 Points
Here is a very special offering that must not be ignored. It was dark, ominous, pure, elegant, super structured and just down right enjoyable. It is what many Syrahs can only dream of being. Look for it soon. It will be pricey $80ish) but well worth the tariff.
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