This bottle surprised me, as it's been a long standing favorite of mine without a doubt. When it was served to me, it came across ripe and big fruited in the aromatic. It was also quite cold too. When I then tasted it, I made the comment that the palate was better than the aromatic, finding lots of dark berry, iron and a bit of a roasted fruit flavor. As it warmed up, something good happened to it, as the whole cluster and aromatics that are indicative of the 2008 started to come out--the dried purple flower and rosemary. Then some olive in the wine, garrigue. Seeing it transform, I took home the last glass, which I will have tonight and close out this note...retasting before dinner, fresh palate. Really dark colored, which I missed last night in my note. I do get the ripeness tonight, call it flamboyance. A generous, dark berried swath of fruit that hits the palate, with some shadings of the whole cluster and fading structure. This has been open 3 days now and as the last glass warmed and came to room temp (around 66f), the wine lost the structure and was mainly just fruit. I will drink my remaining bottle this year and enjoy the wine will it is still fresh.
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I would drink one of these every 3 months if the wine was still around. Last time I had one was back in Sept 2014, so another year has passed by and the wine remains great. Opened 1/2 hr ago. Smoke, citrus/acidity, dark berry, light chocolate, jerky, soy. Everything that makes Santa Lucia Highlands syrah a winner for me. At 90 mins, this picks up graphite and some bbq sauce. Just so good. Still plenty of life left here too but with how good this is, it won't make it to tomorrow, as it's going down tooo-day!
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Based solely on its (beautiful and assertive) nose, I would have pegged this as a very good St.-Joseph or Crozes Hermitage. Blueberries, bacon fat, smoke, minerals, garrigue, and God-only-knows what else. Smooth and fairly rich, with a nice finish. Opened only a few minutes before tasting. After a couple hours, however, the nose was muted, and it was a little flat on the palate. I suspect that this rather rapid deterioration is an indication that the wine is headed downhill.
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Dinner Party Blind Tasting - The syrah drinkers picked this one out almost immediately. When people wonder why we don't drink more syrah, this is a wine that belongs on the poster. WHen it was revealed, two people said that they didn't know they could enjoy syrah so much.
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Opened (not decanted) about 45 minutes before tasting, and it could have used a little more air. Almost black. Assertive nose - smelled like syrah (blueberries). Obviously New world, but not a fruitbomb. Explosive, tongue-tingling fruit - more blueberries - and a fairly rich, viscous texture. Terrific finish. Great with food (lamb), but a little too tannic and acidic on its own. Another year or two in the bottle should help. The only thing keeping my score under 93 or 94 was a disappointing lack of complexity (no noticeable minerals, pepper, underbrush, etc.).
Been about nine months since I drank one of these. Was able recently to source 2 more from a close friend, expecting great things so why not have a few more around for the joy. Opened one tonight, drinking at a room temp of 72 degrees so no chill. The color is pitch black with red tones on the rim. Based on my last note and what I find tonight, the wine is softening some, and with the 90 mins of air it has seen, the polish is evident. A hint of graham cracker, some chocolate, citrus, tar and just beautiful balance. Aromatics of cracked spice and garrigue, adding another dimension to the wine. Just a really stunning bottle of wine and clearly for me the best bottle of syrah Adam has made to date. Not sure where this goes with another day of air but it drinks like money tonight so with 2/3rds of the bottle left, more joy for tomorrow and we'll see if it changes course.....god, this is such a killer bottle of syrah. With another day of slox ox, this remains flush with tarry, blackberry fruit, vibrant with citrus, plenty of underbrush/garrigue and just a touch of rustic black cherry hanging around the core of the wine. Drink window? I'd give this 1-2 years more to stay at peak and then I suspect it will have entered into a secondary stage so my advice is to drink now if you have one and measure my enthusiasm against your own experience. Amazing.
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Delicious juicy ripe blackberry, olive, and pepper on the nose and palate culminating in a a long finish with tasty acidity and tannins that bring it all together.
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As this is a WOTY finalist for 2013, I'll give a note over a couple nights, drinking the first glass tonight. Listed alc 14.5%, and as I said in the last note I wrote, at least at this stage in the bottle open, I don't sense heat. Aromatics of flower, cooked meat, little shy. It does have a bit of cellar chill on it so as to whether that tempers any heat, we can see in the next day or so with some room temp impressions. There is some tension in the wine tonight, the acid and grip sits in the middle of it, then the requisite Susan's black fruit holds it. What attracts me in this first glass is the acid, the lean aspect of it really freshens it nicely, what comes across as some tart edges in the finish....Day 2, what sticks with me is the tart edge in this wine, a good lick of red fruited acidity which carries the finish. I really enjoy that aspect of this vintage. Similarly, the cooked meat and plushness of this vintage is really attractive, too. The fruit in this year is dark, it has that Novy depth but it's got a feel of tar mixing with a pure dark boysen quality, something I have not see in other vintages of Susan's. As air gets into the wine again, that boysen quality of the finish really brightens and the peppery, smoky note in the aromatic is also tuned in. Even some mineral/saline quality in the back end. As a reference point, think Copain Brosseau, as it seems ride similar flavor rails. Damn, this is really fine stuff, probably one of the stronger examples of CA syrah I have had in some time, manages to push lushness into the core, as well as a distinct acid profile, both working in real harmony. Clearly my syrah of the year for 2013 and a standout.
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Open about an hour, enjoying on a really nice evening in the OC. In reading my previous tasting note from 8 months ago, I don't get any heat this time. What do i get aromatically is a # of rhone markers, and although each on their own are lighter in tone, taken together they add a nice aromatic: olive, white flower, brush/garrigue, pepper/smoke and metal shavings--really quite typical for the AVA. Polished texture that then leads to critrus, cooked meat, blackberry and a tarry note that lingers into the finish. This bottle is really a ringer, in that I had to check the label again to see if I had pulled a Garys' or Rosella's, as it rings with those flavors. Finallly, amidst the tar is a nice accenting aspect of tartness and some dark chocolate. In the last year, this wine is really coming together and starting to exhibit some savory qualities, which I would not think of as Susan's. A friend of mine has 5 more of these in her cellar, and I'll need to bug her to flip me a couple as I'd like to track this wine for a few more years. We'll see if tomorrow it tastes any different....Day 2, pretty much as yesterday, just intensity of flavor and complexity, yet with acid. Today, the whole cluster aspect of the wine seems more in focus and framing the fruit, adding a savory quality. This is in the top tier of best syrah I have had in some time, mixing the usual flashiness of Susan's with a savory, old world quality. Acid, dark fruit, rhone-like qualities. Excellent and WOW.
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No formal notes on the night of. Still have the second half of the bottle, and will try to update tonight. But still a dark beauty. Mineral and blueberry, finishing with vanilla.
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Delicious ripe blackberry, olive, and pepper on the nose and palate culminating in a a long finish with tasty acidity and tannins. Will enjoy my last bottle soon.
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We opened this last night, as I asked my friend who owns several of these to bring it to a dinner so we could see how it was aging. It's only a 2008 so to make a remark about age might seem a bit ridiculous but I had not tried the wine since early 2011 so I thought it would be a good marker to see how it is coming along. Listed alc is 14.5%. Typical with Susan's, it's dark in color, purple to black. Aromatics show a cool mix of brown spice, like a cinnamon, along with flowers, iron and some riper-styled fruit and some heat. Last night, the palate left me with the impression of 'tart, not something I would attribute to Susan's Hill. Yet tonight, there is indeed a leaner edge to this vintage, it has more cut then I typically expect from Susan's. The dark flavors and sexier side is throttled back by a juicier, lean edge. A bit of cran is this vintage, which is unusual, along with blackberry, crushed rocks and some olive. Reminds me a little bit of what Wells did in the earlier Copain years. This drinks pretty well now but can age through say 2015.
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Yummy. This is a wine for syrah lovers. I wouldn't describe this as over the top but powerful and concentrated without being extracted. Really dark in the glass, the dark fruits also jump on the palate. In 2 or 3 years, this might be one of the best syrahs they have produced.
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Six months since the last bottle. This one here opened last night, enjoying more tonight for this note. Pours very dark, aromatics of campfire, garrigue, probably evolving these notes via the stem inclusion. There is a lot of texture and generous weight here but what offsets of the broad shoulders is a good size amount of acidity and structure, which both liven up the wine with citrus, some chalk and zippy red and black fruit. Within the finish, joining the citrus acidity is some anise seed and licorice. Some bittersweet chocolate closes the finish. This wine can drink now but I think doing so is short sighting what it can become with another year, probably two more. I won't open another until 2013.
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Beautiful wine right out of the gate. Well balanced with great purity of fruit. Much more a middleweight than a heavyweight as everything holds laser like focus. Amazing wine and given the price, few outside of Carlisle can hold a candle to this in the price range. Drinks like a bottle many, many times it's price. Buy by the boatload.
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This is my second bottle this month and this wine took the table for best bottle. No decant, pop and pour and alongside the Carlisle, Lucia and some others, it reigned best. The balance, the blue fruit, some new wood and dark espresso and light ink, it all worked. Granted, I did not drink this bottle over 2 nights like the last one but the presence it showed tonight was pretty impressive and it won over another couple who were going to source it tomorrow via email from the winery. Adam did a fine job with this bottling.
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I now own both the notes on this wine so will be thrilled when I get a few more opinions next to mine down the road. The first note was a final blend shiner so this note follows that one by about 4 months, as it's now bottled and labeled. Pulled cork, dumped into decanter. Distinctive start aromatically, with blood, some light garrique, some florals. The early palate start to it shows dark fruit, ash and some earthy character on a solid wide frame...after about 2 hours sitting, picks up the richness and edge of Susan's, with dark berry, both black and blue, with an earthy shading on the edges. As it finishes, shows mineral, dark chocolate and the same ashen/campfire note of earlier. Less than a 100 cases, shaded in 25% new french oak, drinks excellent. Dark, deeply flavored, the whole cluster signature....beautiful.
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Tasted as a final blend sample, bottled to a 750. And, for comparison, tasted next to the 2008 Lucia Susan's Hill. The differences are notable here, mainly in the fruit, which goes more to the blue end of the sprectrum and is more juicy, than the Lucia which goes more to the black spectrum.
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1/18/2016 - Frank Murray III wrote:
This bottle surprised me, as it's been a long standing favorite of mine without a doubt. When it was served to me, it came across ripe and big fruited in the aromatic. It was also quite cold too. When I then tasted it, I made the comment that the palate was better than the aromatic, finding lots of dark berry, iron and a bit of a roasted fruit flavor. As it warmed up, something good happened to it, as the whole cluster and aromatics that are indicative of the 2008 started to come out--the dried purple flower and rosemary. Then some olive in the wine, garrigue. Seeing it transform, I took home the last glass, which I will have tonight and close out this note...retasting before dinner, fresh palate. Really dark colored, which I missed last night in my note. I do get the ripeness tonight, call it flamboyance. A generous, dark berried swath of fruit that hits the palate, with some shadings of the whole cluster and fading structure. This has been open 3 days now and as the last glass warmed and came to room temp (around 66f), the wine lost the structure and was mainly just fruit. I will drink my remaining bottle this year and enjoy the wine will it is still fresh.
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12/31/2015 - 3daywinereview.com wrote: 87 Points
blue fruit spice coffee and cedar. Medium finish but not quite balanced. A bit disappointed.
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11/22/2015 - Frank Murray III wrote:
I would drink one of these every 3 months if the wine was still around. Last time I had one was back in Sept 2014, so another year has passed by and the wine remains great. Opened 1/2 hr ago. Smoke, citrus/acidity, dark berry, light chocolate, jerky, soy. Everything that makes Santa Lucia Highlands syrah a winner for me. At 90 mins, this picks up graphite and some bbq sauce. Just so good. Still plenty of life left here too but with how good this is, it won't make it to tomorrow, as it's going down tooo-day!
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9/28/2015 - Night Train Likes this wine: 92 Points
Based solely on its (beautiful and assertive) nose, I would have pegged this as a very good St.-Joseph or Crozes Hermitage. Blueberries, bacon fat, smoke, minerals, garrigue, and God-only-knows what else. Smooth and fairly rich, with a nice finish. Opened only a few minutes before tasting. After a couple hours, however, the nose was muted, and it was a little flat on the palate. I suspect that this rather rapid deterioration is an indication that the wine is headed downhill.
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4/19/2015 - mkmast wrote: 92 Points
Dinner Party Blind Tasting - The syrah drinkers picked this one out almost immediately. When people wonder why we don't drink more syrah, this is a wine that belongs on the poster. WHen it was revealed, two people said that they didn't know they could enjoy syrah so much.
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3/7/2015 - Night Train Likes this wine: 91 Points
Opened (not decanted) about 45 minutes before tasting, and it could have used a little more air. Almost black. Assertive nose - smelled like syrah (blueberries). Obviously New world, but not a fruitbomb. Explosive, tongue-tingling fruit - more blueberries - and a fairly rich, viscous texture. Terrific finish. Great with food (lamb), but a little too tannic and acidic on its own. Another year or two in the bottle should help. The only thing keeping my score under 93 or 94 was a disappointing lack of complexity (no noticeable minerals, pepper, underbrush, etc.).
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9/27/2014 - Frank Murray III wrote:
Been about nine months since I drank one of these. Was able recently to source 2 more from a close friend, expecting great things so why not have a few more around for the joy. Opened one tonight, drinking at a room temp of 72 degrees so no chill. The color is pitch black with red tones on the rim. Based on my last note and what I find tonight, the wine is softening some, and with the 90 mins of air it has seen, the polish is evident. A hint of graham cracker, some chocolate, citrus, tar and just beautiful balance. Aromatics of cracked spice and garrigue, adding another dimension to the wine. Just a really stunning bottle of wine and clearly for me the best bottle of syrah Adam has made to date. Not sure where this goes with another day of air but it drinks like money tonight so with 2/3rds of the bottle left, more joy for tomorrow and we'll see if it changes course.....god, this is such a killer bottle of syrah. With another day of slox ox, this remains flush with tarry, blackberry fruit, vibrant with citrus, plenty of underbrush/garrigue and just a touch of rustic black cherry hanging around the core of the wine. Drink window? I'd give this 1-2 years more to stay at peak and then I suspect it will have entered into a secondary stage so my advice is to drink now if you have one and measure my enthusiasm against your own experience. Amazing.
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12/28/2013 - pjhr Likes this wine: 93 Points
Delicious juicy ripe blackberry, olive, and pepper on the nose and palate culminating in a a long finish with tasty acidity and tannins that bring it all together.
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12/21/2013 - Frank Murray III wrote:
As this is a WOTY finalist for 2013, I'll give a note over a couple nights, drinking the first glass tonight. Listed alc 14.5%, and as I said in the last note I wrote, at least at this stage in the bottle open, I don't sense heat. Aromatics of flower, cooked meat, little shy. It does have a bit of cellar chill on it so as to whether that tempers any heat, we can see in the next day or so with some room temp impressions. There is some tension in the wine tonight, the acid and grip sits in the middle of it, then the requisite Susan's black fruit holds it. What attracts me in this first glass is the acid, the lean aspect of it really freshens it nicely, what comes across as some tart edges in the finish....Day 2, what sticks with me is the tart edge in this wine, a good lick of red fruited acidity which carries the finish. I really enjoy that aspect of this vintage. Similarly, the cooked meat and plushness of this vintage is really attractive, too. The fruit in this year is dark, it has that Novy depth but it's got a feel of tar mixing with a pure dark boysen quality, something I have not see in other vintages of Susan's. As air gets into the wine again, that boysen quality of the finish really brightens and the peppery, smoky note in the aromatic is also tuned in. Even some mineral/saline quality in the back end. As a reference point, think Copain Brosseau, as it seems ride similar flavor rails. Damn, this is really fine stuff, probably one of the stronger examples of CA syrah I have had in some time, manages to push lushness into the core, as well as a distinct acid profile, both working in real harmony. Clearly my syrah of the year for 2013 and a standout.
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7/3/2013 - Frank Murray III Likes this wine:
Open about an hour, enjoying on a really nice evening in the OC. In reading my previous tasting note from 8 months ago, I don't get any heat this time. What do i get aromatically is a # of rhone markers, and although each on their own are lighter in tone, taken together they add a nice aromatic: olive, white flower, brush/garrigue, pepper/smoke and metal shavings--really quite typical for the AVA. Polished texture that then leads to critrus, cooked meat, blackberry and a tarry note that lingers into the finish. This bottle is really a ringer, in that I had to check the label again to see if I had pulled a Garys' or Rosella's, as it rings with those flavors. Finallly, amidst the tar is a nice accenting aspect of tartness and some dark chocolate. In the last year, this wine is really coming together and starting to exhibit some savory qualities, which I would not think of as Susan's. A friend of mine has 5 more of these in her cellar, and I'll need to bug her to flip me a couple as I'd like to track this wine for a few more years. We'll see if tomorrow it tastes any different....Day 2, pretty much as yesterday, just intensity of flavor and complexity, yet with acid. Today, the whole cluster aspect of the wine seems more in focus and framing the fruit, adding a savory quality. This is in the top tier of best syrah I have had in some time, mixing the usual flashiness of Susan's with a savory, old world quality. Acid, dark fruit, rhone-like qualities. Excellent and WOW.
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5/19/2013 - brianngibson wrote: 94 Points
No formal notes on the night of. Still have the second half of the bottle, and will try to update tonight. But still a dark beauty. Mineral and blueberry, finishing with vanilla.
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3/26/2013 - pjhr wrote: 92 Points
Delicious ripe blackberry, olive, and pepper on the nose and palate culminating in a a long finish with tasty acidity and tannins. Will enjoy my last bottle soon.
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10/8/2012 - Frank Murray III wrote:
We opened this last night, as I asked my friend who owns several of these to bring it to a dinner so we could see how it was aging. It's only a 2008 so to make a remark about age might seem a bit ridiculous but I had not tried the wine since early 2011 so I thought it would be a good marker to see how it is coming along. Listed alc is 14.5%. Typical with Susan's, it's dark in color, purple to black. Aromatics show a cool mix of brown spice, like a cinnamon, along with flowers, iron and some riper-styled fruit and some heat. Last night, the palate left me with the impression of 'tart, not something I would attribute to Susan's Hill. Yet tonight, there is indeed a leaner edge to this vintage, it has more cut then I typically expect from Susan's. The dark flavors and sexier side is throttled back by a juicier, lean edge. A bit of cran is this vintage, which is unusual, along with blackberry, crushed rocks and some olive. Reminds me a little bit of what Wells did in the earlier Copain years. This drinks pretty well now but can age through say 2015.
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6/23/2012 - mkmast wrote: 92 Points
Yummy. This is a wine for syrah lovers. I wouldn't describe this as over the top but powerful and concentrated without being extracted. Really dark in the glass, the dark fruits also jump on the palate. In 2 or 3 years, this might be one of the best syrahs they have produced.
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3/20/2012 - cmr wrote: 88 Points
Still needs some time. Dark berries but strong tannins that haven't fully resolved yet.
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11/12/2011 - brianngibson wrote: 93 Points
Blackberry, vanilla, cedar and sage. Deep purple and teeth coating. Deliciously good.
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3/24/2011 - Frank Murray III wrote:
Six months since the last bottle. This one here opened last night, enjoying more tonight for this note. Pours very dark, aromatics of campfire, garrigue, probably evolving these notes via the stem inclusion. There is a lot of texture and generous weight here but what offsets of the broad shoulders is a good size amount of acidity and structure, which both liven up the wine with citrus, some chalk and zippy red and black fruit. Within the finish, joining the citrus acidity is some anise seed and licorice. Some bittersweet chocolate closes the finish. This wine can drink now but I think doing so is short sighting what it can become with another year, probably two more. I won't open another until 2013.
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1/30/2011 - thenapalist wrote: 96 Points
Beautiful wine right out of the gate. Well balanced with great purity of fruit. Much more a middleweight than a heavyweight as everything holds laser like focus. Amazing wine and given the price, few outside of Carlisle can hold a candle to this in the price range. Drinks like a bottle many, many times it's price. Buy by the boatload.
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12/12/2010 - IAMVLAD wrote: 94 Points
decanted for 5-6 hours. beautiful, jammy wine with a bit of raspberry.close to 08 melville donna and superior to the 08 novy garys'.
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9/3/2010 - Frank Murray III wrote:
This is my second bottle this month and this wine took the table for best bottle. No decant, pop and pour and alongside the Carlisle, Lucia and some others, it reigned best. The balance, the blue fruit, some new wood and dark espresso and light ink, it all worked. Granted, I did not drink this bottle over 2 nights like the last one but the presence it showed tonight was pretty impressive and it won over another couple who were going to source it tomorrow via email from the winery. Adam did a fine job with this bottling.
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8/7/2010 - Frank Murray III wrote:
I now own both the notes on this wine so will be thrilled when I get a few more opinions next to mine down the road. The first note was a final blend shiner so this note follows that one by about 4 months, as it's now bottled and labeled. Pulled cork, dumped into decanter. Distinctive start aromatically, with blood, some light garrique, some florals. The early palate start to it shows dark fruit, ash and some earthy character on a solid wide frame...after about 2 hours sitting, picks up the richness and edge of Susan's, with dark berry, both black and blue, with an earthy shading on the edges. As it finishes, shows mineral, dark chocolate and the same ashen/campfire note of earlier. Less than a 100 cases, shaded in 25% new french oak, drinks excellent. Dark, deeply flavored, the whole cluster signature....beautiful.
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3/13/2010 - Frank Murray III wrote:
Tasted as a final blend sample, bottled to a 750. And, for comparison, tasted next to the 2008 Lucia Susan's Hill. The differences are notable here, mainly in the fruit, which goes more to the blue end of the sprectrum and is more juicy, than the Lucia which goes more to the black spectrum.
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