Perfect aged Hermitage from magnum. All the right notes. In the zone. Unlike better BDX from this era, the corks are starting to be soaked about 1/3rd. So enjoy over the next decade.
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Northern Rhone Dinner (2012/2005/1998 focus) (Chez Lagragne): Super interesting and evolved aromas of mature, bloody black fruit laced with herbs and meatiness. Rustic palate with some grittiness and brininess that all hangs together quite nicely.
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(Mostly) 1998, 2005, 2012 Northern Rhône (Chicago, IL): An excellent bottle, and I think it certainly held its own in pretty tough company. More rustic than the Chave, but with lovely aromatics. More driven by acid and structure than Chave, yet fully approachable now. Overall this doesn't feel like it'll have as long a life, but for drinking now, this is amply good.
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A bouquet to enjoy, full of interest. Aromas of dusty ground, spice and anise, dried red fruits and flowers, white pepper. Palate gentle but lively. Cote Rotie like with its suppleness and the sweet echo of its fruit.
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Kaboom! What a fantastic wine. The fourth of a stash of four sniped at Acker a few years ago, and by far the best. With just a bit of air this is explosively fragrant - floral and smoky, fruitcake spice, a little brett, just awesome - and equally sweet and flavorful, palate-coating with some sinewy/chewy tannins framing everything on the finish. Simply outstanding. I love 1998 in the Northern Rhone.
Return to La Trompette (La Trompette, Chiswick): Medium/deep garnet. Deep and meaty nose, yet aromatic too. Black pepper. Medium/full bodied, quite soft and luxurious on the palate, meaty dark fruit, black pepper, lovely fresh acidity, long. Outstanding, ready.
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As good as always, combining the power of Hermitage with lovely floral bouquet and good complexity. Good development now but can certainly keep for years. 16.5/20
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An evening with Sorrel and Gerin (Uncorked, Bishopsgate): The World Cup vintage! Lots of animale on the nose, this has obvious depth, but is silky and (relatively) weightless. Leather and sweet fruit and very long. Ideally share this with at most one other person, to appreciate its quality and nuance. Feels fully mature but will presumably last another decade or two.
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Casual dinner at S.K.Y. (Chicago, IL): Wow, big, bacony, peppery, olivey black fruit nose. A mouthful of savory black fruit. Pepper and incense add complexity. So rich, yet lightweight with excellent length.
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Dinner at S.K.Y. (Chicago, IL): Stunning Hermitage. This is everything a non-Chave Hermitage should be. A touch of olive and spice, but silky fruit and potent earth tones as well. Very thickly textured on the palate, with a saline/savory element that is incredibly powerful.
As usual a lovely Hermitage - great combination of power and elegance. You have the structure and strength but this is not the only thing for the wines. Lovely fruit and beautiful tannin. Good complexity. No hurry and will hold well. However the previous bottle seems to be more impressive and open on the nose. 16.5+/20
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Floral yet dark bouquet, quite prominent. Excellent balance of power and elegance. I like this style more than the intense low acidity Hermitage that won high RP scores. Complex, balance and beautiful. Mellow on palate, good structure and tannin well integrated already. Ready to drink now while can still hold. 17.5/20
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Domestic Rhones (David's House - Washington, DC): The only actual Rhone wine in the tasting, this Hermitage is orgasmic. The complexity of aromas, the balance on the palate, the length of the finish, all of it is top notch. The aromas are endlessly beautiful: red berry fruit, dried cranberry, anise, olive tapenade, seaweed, oyster brine, musk and mineral. Pure and velvety on the palate, with silky tannins and brisk acid. Snappy red fruit is accentuated by lots of olive brine, crushed rocks, herbs, iron, white pepper, tobacco. One of the best syrahs I've had, period. And it's in such a perfect place right now. As close to perfect as I can imagine.
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Remarkably Chave-like in its silken finesse, depth and balance. Layers of fresh red and dark fruits, leather, meat and smoky seasonings on an incredibly elegant, silken textured medium weight frame. The sense of textural polish is as compelling as the flavour here, and the balance is outstanding.
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Good wines and fun times as Nicos returns to New York. (La Fonda Del Sol): An interesting mix of Burgundy and the Rhone here. The nose has a rather Burgundian quality to it with its tart red fruit profile, but then in comes the black olive and purple flower aromas. It's medium-bodied and tart on the palate with rather high acidity. Juicy red fruit, bacon and herb flavors dominate, but while the Burg lovers at the table really seemed to like it, I think it needs more fruit to balance out the structure. B+/A-.
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Tanaro Wine Dinner (Palate Food + Wine - Glendale, CA): Notes of raw meat, black olives, black plums, creosote, and pink peppercorns. A very good wine in its own right that unfortunately got overshadowed by some of the other wines at the table. Better with the hangar steak than the pork belly. 87-88 points.
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5/5 Hermitages. Pongy, meaty, full spectrum Syrah. Nice, biggish, solid, grippy palate, tannic. Hairy-chested variety of Hermitage, impressive in its way. Not my style, but it definitely has character and should keep and probably improve for a few more years at least, and perhaps go on for much longer. Interesting and an enjoyable contrast to its more elegant cousins.
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12/26/2023 - SeaSea Likes this wine: 96 Points
Perfect aged Hermitage from magnum. All the right notes. In the zone. Unlike better BDX from this era, the corks are starting to be soaked about 1/3rd. So enjoy over the next decade.
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10/27/2023 - Nanda wrote:
Northern Rhone Dinner (2012/2005/1998 focus) (Chez Lagragne): Super interesting and evolved aromas of mature, bloody black fruit laced with herbs and meatiness. Rustic palate with some grittiness and brininess that all hangs together quite nicely.
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10/27/2023 - acyso wrote: 93 Points
(Mostly) 1998, 2005, 2012 Northern Rhône (Chicago, IL): An excellent bottle, and I think it certainly held its own in pretty tough company. More rustic than the Chave, but with lovely aromatics. More driven by acid and structure than Chave, yet fully approachable now. Overall this doesn't feel like it'll have as long a life, but for drinking now, this is amply good.
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10/20/2023 - Shanta wrote: 91 Points
A bouquet to enjoy, full of interest. Aromas of dusty ground, spice and anise, dried red fruits and flowers, white pepper. Palate gentle but lively. Cote Rotie like with its suppleness and the sweet echo of its fruit.
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3/3/2023 - Chomsky wrote:
Kaboom! What a fantastic wine. The fourth of a stash of four sniped at Acker a few years ago, and by far the best. With just a bit of air this is explosively fragrant - floral and smoky, fruitcake spice, a little brett, just awesome - and equally sweet and flavorful, palate-coating with some sinewy/chewy tannins framing everything on the finish. Simply outstanding. I love 1998 in the Northern Rhone.
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11/28/2021 - SeaSea Likes this wine: 96 Points
Delicious. Silky sweet fruit with a long finish. In a lovely drinking window. From magnum. Quick double decant for sediment. 13.5% alc.
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7/25/2021 - Macdog Likes this wine:
Drink up. L thought it tasted best in 24/12 having drunk 5 bottles over last 3 years.
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5/19/2021 - Paul D wrote: 95 Points
Return to La Trompette (La Trompette, Chiswick): Medium/deep garnet. Deep and meaty nose, yet aromatic too. Black pepper. Medium/full bodied, quite soft and luxurious on the palate, meaty dark fruit, black pepper, lovely fresh acidity, long. Outstanding, ready.
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3/29/2021 - derekastoria Likes this wine:
As good as always, combining the power of Hermitage with lovely floral bouquet and good complexity. Good development now but can certainly keep for years. 16.5/20
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2/27/2021 - Nothung Likes this wine: 94 Points
Opened 5+ hours in advance. Just beautiful. Poetry in a glass. No rush, but don’t think it will get any better with additional age.
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12/25/2020 - SparkyMI Likes this wine: 88 Points
Waited too long.
Good wine.
Too old.
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2/4/2020 - NickA Likes this wine: 93 Points
An evening with Sorrel and Gerin (Uncorked, Bishopsgate): The World Cup vintage! Lots of animale on the nose, this has obvious depth, but is silky and (relatively) weightless. Leather and sweet fruit and very long. Ideally share this with at most one other person, to appreciate its quality and nuance. Feels fully mature but will presumably last another decade or two.
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6/29/2019 - Nothung Likes this wine: 92 Points
A beautiful Hermitage. Not at the level of a JL Chave, but beautiful none the less. Opened about 4 hours before.
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11/6/2018 - Chuck Miller wrote:
Wow! This is drinking great. Killer nose. Glad I have a few more.
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3/24/2018 - DoubleMagnum Likes this wine: 93 Points
Very good but very young. This needs time to blossom. It's got all the ingredients to age beautifully.
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3/8/2018 - Nanda wrote: 95 Points
Casual dinner at S.K.Y. (Chicago, IL): Wow, big, bacony, peppery, olivey black fruit nose. A mouthful of savory black fruit. Pepper and incense add complexity. So rich, yet lightweight with excellent length.
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3/8/2018 - acyso wrote: 95 Points
Dinner at S.K.Y. (Chicago, IL): Stunning Hermitage. This is everything a non-Chave Hermitage should be. A touch of olive and spice, but silky fruit and potent earth tones as well. Very thickly textured on the palate, with a saline/savory element that is incredibly powerful.
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12/25/2017 - derekastoria Likes this wine:
As usual a lovely Hermitage - great combination of power and elegance. You have the structure and strength but this is not the only thing for the wines. Lovely fruit and beautiful tannin. Good complexity. No hurry and will hold well. However the previous bottle seems to be more impressive and open on the nose. 16.5+/20
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1/19/2016 - derekastoria Likes this wine:
Floral yet dark bouquet, quite prominent. Excellent balance of power and elegance. I like this style more than the intense low acidity Hermitage that won high RP scores. Complex, balance and beautiful. Mellow on palate, good structure and tannin well integrated already. Ready to drink now while can still hold. 17.5/20
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3/31/2015 - scamhi wrote:
beautiful bottle with silky tannins
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4/25/2013 - isaacjamesbaker wrote: 98 Points
Domestic Rhones (David's House - Washington, DC): The only actual Rhone wine in the tasting, this Hermitage is orgasmic. The complexity of aromas, the balance on the palate, the length of the finish, all of it is top notch. The aromas are endlessly beautiful: red berry fruit, dried cranberry, anise, olive tapenade, seaweed, oyster brine, musk and mineral. Pure and velvety on the palate, with silky tannins and brisk acid. Snappy red fruit is accentuated by lots of olive brine, crushed rocks, herbs, iron, white pepper, tobacco. One of the best syrahs I've had, period. And it's in such a perfect place right now. As close to perfect as I can imagine.
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2/13/2012 - salil wrote: 93 Points
Remarkably Chave-like in its silken finesse, depth and balance. Layers of fresh red and dark fruits, leather, meat and smoky seasonings on an incredibly elegant, silken textured medium weight frame. The sense of textural polish is as compelling as the flavour here, and the balance is outstanding.
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9/12/2011 - BradKNYC wrote:
Good wines and fun times as Nicos returns to New York. (La Fonda Del Sol): An interesting mix of Burgundy and the Rhone here. The nose has a rather Burgundian quality to it with its tart red fruit profile, but then in comes the black olive and purple flower aromas. It's medium-bodied and tart on the palate with rather high acidity. Juicy red fruit, bacon and herb flavors dominate, but while the Burg lovers at the table really seemed to like it, I think it needs more fruit to balance out the structure. B+/A-.
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2/5/2010 - Paul Lin wrote: 87 Points
Tanaro Wine Dinner (Palate Food + Wine - Glendale, CA): Notes of raw meat, black olives, black plums, creosote, and pink peppercorns. A very good wine in its own right that unfortunately got overshadowed by some of the other wines at the table. Better with the hangar steak than the pork belly. 87-88 points.
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1/26/2010 - Chuck Miller wrote:
Still firm, this is a large scaled Hermitage. Nowhere near ready. Maybe try a bottle in 2015.
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9/20/2009 - Vinosus wrote: 91 Points
5/5 Hermitages. Pongy, meaty, full spectrum Syrah. Nice, biggish, solid, grippy palate, tannic. Hairy-chested variety of Hermitage, impressive in its way. Not my style, but it definitely has character and should keep and probably improve for a few more years at least, and perhaps go on for much longer. Interesting and an enjoyable contrast to its more elegant cousins.
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