Popped, poured, consumed over next two hours. Not sure this bottle was entirely correct. Lots of black and blueberry over a strong tannic frame. In the final half hour, I started to taste fresh band-aid and multi-vitamin.
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It's been several years since our last bottle, where I thought the tannins had resolved, and this bottle confirms that impression. Fully resolved, and now we're on the downward slope - a lot of the aromatic and palate complexity has gone absent, leaving a wine that is dominated by elements of blackberry liqueur. If that's your preference, you're going to love the wine at this stage, but it's not mine. Drink up.
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On a third tasting, I really liked this wine. It offers pretty aromas of mixed berries, purple flowers, bacon, and gaminess. It drinks a bit like Chateauneuf du Pape due to low acidity and low tannins.
Really drinking well now. 92-93.
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Nice wine that required decanting still to really open up. Seems sappy and unctuous with overpowering rock and spice notes at first but softer and redder fruit comes through with airtime.
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I'll probably never be a California wine lover. This wine is well-made, and the grapes are obviously high quality. But to me, it tastes overproduced and unnatural. The fruit is a bit too ripe, the acidity is too low, the oak is a bit too strong, tannins are a bit too fine-grained (albeit powerful). It lacks the profound, funky aromas, energy, and ruggedness of a good Rhone syrah. Still, after all that negativity, I rated it 91.
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Ripe dark red fruits, with underlying savory notes. A bigger riper styled new world Syrah. With ten years of age not sure this will develop a lot of additional complexity.
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Tasted blind. Guessed California syrah. Sweet blueberry and darker fruit flavors (enough to make me guess California), but not over-concentrated or jammy like so many California wines. Pronounced smoked meat aromas were the main reason I guessed syrah; I didn't discern any spice or burnt rubber aromas. Tannins still asserted their presence. This wine could improve with more age. Good winemaking.
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Largely consistent with previous tasting notes in terms of aromatics and palate - the only noticeable difference is that the tannins have resolved. I think the wine is likely to hold at this level for at least 2-3 years, so no reason to rush, but no reason not to drink them now, either.
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Totally stunning tonight, the 2008 Richards Family Syrah displays the type of classy, vivid array of dark mature fruit which is just adorable. Accompanied by rich minerals, white pepper, sweet licorice and wet saddle leather coming together in one marvellous experience. The palate adds an elegant and beautiful integration between fruit, acidity and oak. This is certainly an impressive effort. With a 50-60 second length on the finish it will continue to please the taster for another 10 years. A lovely wine - without doubt!
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Decanted for two hours before service. In the glass, deep purplish-black. On the nose, a mix of blackberries and olive tapenade. On the palate, more of the same, with notes of iodine, black pepper, and beef blood, on a surprisingly smooth-textured body. Tannins are still present, with a bit of bite on the long finish, but this is reasonably approachable now. Still, a few more years in the cellar will help the cause.
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An absolutely stunning wine, the 2008 Richards Family Syrah displays a vivd array of dark mature fruit, rich minerals, white pepper, sweet licorice and wet saddle leather. The palate adds to overall experience with a very nice integration between fruit, acidity and oak. This is certainly an impressive effort and with a 50-60 second length on the finish it will not disappoint its audience. Maybe it is wrong to use the word audience, since this effort makes you participate in every sip you enjoy. A lovely wine - without doubt!
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Meet Dr Jekyll and Mr Oak, have a glass of the 08 Donelan Richards Family Syrah... This wine to me represent what I would at best like to describe as a "multi-faced" effort. Before decanting the nose provided tones of heavily burnt oak and subdued secondary fruit. After decant, the fruit was singing. Actually the wine was perfectly clean and had a truly profound Syrah nose with minerals, dark fruit, licorice and a subtle whiff of white pepper. But then after another couple of hours, Mr Oak returned more stern and unforgiving than before. Is aging needed? No, I guess this oakiness will never disappear or integrate fully, but time will for sure tell. The palate is nicely kept together and provides a nice length on the finish. In its nice phase I would have easily scored this wine 95-96 points, but the oaky experience is around 89-90. Taken together the average score is 92-93. This is so sad as we all got to experience the beautiful side of this wine during our dinner.
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Very smooth and integrated, but a bit too young. I was hoping for something more concentrated and intense, but got finesse and integration, which was wonderful but different than I had expected/hoped.
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3/22/2024 - Chrisinroch wrote:
These are drinking really well right now. Very tasty Syrah
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8/18/2022 - rsbeck wrote:
Popped, poured, consumed over next two hours. Not sure this bottle was entirely correct. Lots of black and blueberry over a strong tannic frame. In the final half hour, I started to taste fresh band-aid and multi-vitamin.
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8/2/2022 - 1961Vintage Likes this wine: 95 Points
Singing on day two. WOW!
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4/8/2022 - jshufelt wrote: 89 Points
It's been several years since our last bottle, where I thought the tannins had resolved, and this bottle confirms that impression. Fully resolved, and now we're on the downward slope - a lot of the aromatic and palate complexity has gone absent, leaving a wine that is dominated by elements of blackberry liqueur. If that's your preference, you're going to love the wine at this stage, but it's not mine. Drink up.
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1/26/2022 - 1961Vintage Likes this wine: 97 Points
Has developed into a fabulous wine with an intoxicating nose. Could have enjoyed the aroma alone for hours. But, drink up. Superb!
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7/9/2020 - rmalloy Likes this wine: 92 Points
On a third tasting, I really liked this wine. It offers pretty aromas of mixed berries, purple flowers, bacon, and gaminess. It drinks a bit like Chateauneuf du Pape due to low acidity and low tannins.
Really drinking well now. 92-93.
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6/17/2020 - Rick 4 Wine Likes this wine:
Nice wine that required decanting still to really open up. Seems sappy and unctuous with overpowering rock and spice notes at first but softer and redder fruit comes through with airtime.
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12/2/2019 - rmalloy wrote: 91 Points
I'll probably never be a California wine lover. This wine is well-made, and the grapes are obviously high quality. But to me, it tastes overproduced and unnatural. The fruit is a bit too ripe, the acidity is too low, the oak is a bit too strong, tannins are a bit too fine-grained (albeit powerful). It lacks the profound, funky aromas, energy, and ruggedness of a good Rhone syrah. Still, after all that negativity, I rated it 91.
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9/28/2019 - retired_and_roving wrote:
Ripe dark red fruits, with underlying savory notes. A bigger riper styled new world Syrah. With ten years of age not sure this will develop a lot of additional complexity.
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8/30/2019 - rmalloy Likes this wine: 92 Points
Tasted blind. Guessed California syrah. Sweet blueberry and darker fruit flavors (enough to make me guess California), but not over-concentrated or jammy like so many California wines. Pronounced smoked meat aromas were the main reason I guessed syrah; I didn't discern any spice or burnt rubber aromas. Tannins still asserted their presence. This wine could improve with more age. Good winemaking.
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1/12/2019 - 1961Vintage wrote: 90 Points
Not as big, not as complex as I was expecting from the $100+ offering. Maybe a bad bottle. Have a few more to compare.
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6/19/2017 - prof b wrote: 90 Points
Disappointing for the price. This was a good wine, but nothing mind-blowing.
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11/8/2016 - jshufelt wrote: 93 Points
Largely consistent with previous tasting notes in terms of aromatics and palate - the only noticeable difference is that the tannins have resolved. I think the wine is likely to hold at this level for at least 2-3 years, so no reason to rush, but no reason not to drink them now, either.
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9/3/2016 - Christoffer78 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Totally stunning tonight, the 2008 Richards Family Syrah displays the type of classy, vivid array of dark mature fruit which is just adorable. Accompanied by rich minerals, white pepper, sweet licorice and wet saddle leather coming together in one marvellous experience. The palate adds an elegant and beautiful integration between fruit, acidity and oak. This is certainly an impressive effort. With a 50-60 second length on the finish it will continue to please the taster for another 10 years. A lovely wine - without doubt!
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8/28/2015 - Jump29 wrote: 90 Points
Really good but unremarkable, which is part of the goodness...nothing to complain about. But not as barnyard primal as some of its Pax forebears.
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7/5/2014 - jshufelt wrote: 92 Points
Decanted for two hours before service. In the glass, deep purplish-black. On the nose, a mix of blackberries and olive tapenade. On the palate, more of the same, with notes of iodine, black pepper, and beef blood, on a surprisingly smooth-textured body. Tannins are still present, with a bit of bite on the long finish, but this is reasonably approachable now. Still, a few more years in the cellar will help the cause.
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10/4/2013 - Christoffer78 Likes this wine: 95 Points
An absolutely stunning wine, the 2008 Richards Family Syrah displays a vivd array of dark mature fruit, rich minerals, white pepper, sweet licorice and wet saddle leather. The palate adds to overall experience with a very nice integration between fruit, acidity and oak. This is certainly an impressive effort and with a 50-60 second length on the finish it will not disappoint its audience. Maybe it is wrong to use the word audience, since this effort makes you participate in every sip you enjoy. A lovely wine - without doubt!
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3/2/2013 - Christoffer78 wrote: 92 Points
Meet Dr Jekyll and Mr Oak, have a glass of the 08 Donelan Richards Family Syrah... This wine to me represent what I would at best like to describe as a "multi-faced" effort. Before decanting the nose provided tones of heavily burnt oak and subdued secondary fruit. After decant, the fruit was singing. Actually the wine was perfectly clean and had a truly profound Syrah nose with minerals, dark fruit, licorice and a subtle whiff of white pepper. But then after another couple of hours, Mr Oak returned more stern and unforgiving than before. Is aging needed? No, I guess this oakiness will never disappear or integrate fully, but time will for sure tell. The palate is nicely kept together and provides a nice length on the finish. In its nice phase I would have easily scored this wine 95-96 points, but the oaky experience is around 89-90. Taken together the average score is 92-93. This is so sad as we all got to experience the beautiful side of this wine during our dinner.
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8/6/2012 - xtian wrote: 87 Points
Didn't like this.
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2/3/2012 - twotee Likes this wine: 95 Points
Wow, very young but very interesting. Lavender, notes of roast lamb, seems classic in its savory Syrah notes. Elegantly textured. Loved it!
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11/28/2011 - xtian wrote: 87 Points
Was disappointed in this. A bit too pruney in the nose and mouth.
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9/21/2011 - xtian wrote: 91 Points
Very smooth and integrated, but a bit too young. I was hoping for something more concentrated and intense, but got finesse and integration, which was wonderful but different than I had expected/hoped.
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9/5/2011 - Jump29 wrote: 87 Points
Not ready.
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