In its favor, this was one of the greatest expressions of that magical relaxing elegance and finesse of a perfectly integrated and aged wine. Where there’s no need to do anything as vulgar as picking out gooseberries and pencil lead, it just invites you to lean back and marvel in the nose. 99 points of elegance.
Against it… there just wasn’t a lot else going on. Big contrast to the 09 Chave Hermitage I had last week, which had that same elegance but also big fruit and all the other fireworks. 90 points of mellow pleasant well executed wine.
For me it was probably too old — I’m guessing some of those fireworks would have been there 10 years ago. But that elegance can’t be denied.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Turn on the heaters (Chicago, IL): Absolutely stellar syrah. The nose is all blood and smoke and brine, the way syrah ought to be. It is delicate and perfumed, but at the same time feral and wild (but perhaps slightly acclimated to human contact). On the palate, this has a surprising delicacy for all the feral qualities. The fruit is overlaid on all of this; it's sweet and ripe, showing more secondary than primary, as perhaps expected, and providing a sweet foil to all the savoury elements. The acidity doesn't play much of a role here, and the tannins are resolved, fine-grained, and very silky. Very much ready to drink now, and very much in line with a 2000 that I had last year.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Wine Bros: A Study of Syrah (Cowford Chophouse): A favorite wine of mine and has been for some time. Definitely a treat to get to drink it. This is all meat and pan drippings and much more gamey in style but in the best possible way. Well balanced. Classic style. Drinking great.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
A very different animal from the 1998 Clape, as always, with its wild dark plum fruits. The texture is smooth, but still harder and less sensual than the Clape -- this is the more typical Cornas. Cellared since original release.
Full of lush brambles, nuanced with savoury spices, earthy espresso, garrigue, smoky game, and a little plummy underpin, all subtle but definitely in view, it sings the sensuality of autumn. Arguably this is the apex of Cornas. Would keep for several more years but singing now, so why wait?
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Professional reviews have copyrights and you can view them here for your personal use only as private content. To view pro reviews you must either subscribe to a pre-integrated publication or manually enter reviews below. Learn more.
1/30/2024 - sh6k Likes this wine: 95 Points
Torn on the rating for this one.
In its favor, this was one of the greatest expressions of that magical relaxing elegance and finesse of a perfectly integrated and aged wine. Where there’s no need to do anything as vulgar as picking out gooseberries and pencil lead, it just invites you to lean back and marvel in the nose. 99 points of elegance.
Against it… there just wasn’t a lot else going on. Big contrast to the 09 Chave Hermitage I had last week, which had that same elegance but also big fruit and all the other fireworks. 90 points of mellow pleasant well executed wine.
For me it was probably too old — I’m guessing some of those fireworks would have been there 10 years ago. But that elegance can’t be denied.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
1/18/2024 - acyso wrote: 98 Points
Turn on the heaters (Chicago, IL): Absolutely stellar syrah. The nose is all blood and smoke and brine, the way syrah ought to be. It is delicate and perfumed, but at the same time feral and wild (but perhaps slightly acclimated to human contact). On the palate, this has a surprising delicacy for all the feral qualities. The fruit is overlaid on all of this; it's sweet and ripe, showing more secondary than primary, as perhaps expected, and providing a sweet foil to all the savoury elements. The acidity doesn't play much of a role here, and the tannins are resolved, fine-grained, and very silky. Very much ready to drink now, and very much in line with a 2000 that I had last year.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
1/6/2024 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
Wine Bros: A Study of Syrah (Cowford Chophouse): A favorite wine of mine and has been for some time. Definitely a treat to get to drink it. This is all meat and pan drippings and much more gamey in style but in the best possible way. Well balanced. Classic style. Drinking great.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
2/20/2022 - cfk49 wrote: 94 Points
A very different animal from the 1998 Clape, as always, with its wild dark plum fruits. The texture is smooth, but still harder and less sensual than the Clape -- this is the more typical Cornas. Cellared since original release.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comments (2)
9/23/2021 - JY007 Likes this wine: 96 Points
Full of lush brambles, nuanced with savoury spices, earthy espresso, garrigue, smoky game, and a little plummy underpin, all subtle but definitely in view, it sings the sensuality of autumn. Arguably this is the apex of Cornas. Would keep for several more years but singing now, so why wait?
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment