2016 Domaine Romaneaux-Destezet (Hervé Souhaut) Syrah

Community Tasting Notes (23) Avg Score: 88.6 points

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  3/5/2023 - tward Likes this wine: 91 Points

  Excellent. The last of four bottles purchased five years ago from two retailers finally delivers after two duds and a decent - flawed & meh, barely good (81) & good/very good (86).
  
  This was captivating from the first sip, with Gang of Four Beaujolais vibes and a smoky Syrah streak. No way to take notes, no way to put it down all the way through the meal - what a pairing with a simple meal of slow cooked cranberry beans with dried porcinis, tomato, and little pieces of chorizo served with baguette and roasted romanesco. Such energy and soaring aromatics, crunchy red fruits and earthy and forest elements.
  
  11.5% abv. You read that right. But this was not at all thin, it lacked nothing.
  
  The poor showing on the other bottles makes this poor QPR at $23 USD.

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  9/16/2021 - tward wrote: 81 Points

  If you're looking for a Syrah that tastes like a natural wine made by someone who wants to make a wine that tastes like a natural wine with natural wine aromas and flavors and want to make sure that it's natural because it has some spritz and some fog and lots of high notes and tartness and funk, well this is the natural wine that tastes like a natural wine for you! If you're looking for varietal expression, terrior (besides the terrior of the winemaker's non-interventionist expression of non-intervention) and complexity, look elsewhere.
  
  Look, it's fine, and we could have these wines for under $10 if it weren't for the hype. Mash the grapes, see what happens, bottle it in any case, and enjoy. Good with a chill, can go really well with certain foods - think German food with sauerkraut! If the VA is too much, mix it with soda. For the mid-$20s+, nope.
  
  An '81' from me is within the "Good" range. So it's not poor, IMO. But it just annoyed me.
  
  Update: I wisely poured from Coravin the first night for the note above. This kept this from going bad, which it will when exposed to air (grainy, yeasty, etc.) Most of the remainder of the bottle was able to be enjoyed with a meal the following night - I needed something that would go against a green lentil dish with celeriac root, red wine vinegar, hazelnuts, and mint. This worked pretty well.

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  7/23/2021 - wgcrites wrote: 79 Points

  Not working for me. I get what DoubleMagnum shared about a Beaujolais vibe. Just not what I am into at the moment

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  1/4/2021 - DoubleMagnum Likes this wine: 90 Points

  OK. The best way I can describe this wine is picture a natural Beaujolais that has been mixed with some tapenade.
  It's as if Marcel Lapierre met Pierre Gonon and told him, OK, I'll take care of the palate and you take care of the nose.
  Voilà!

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  12/20/2020 - Aparritz Likes this wine: 93 Points

  This was a great find from garagiste. Fresh, crunchy, alive. You don’t often find an 11+% Rhone Syrah and oh what a treat this was. This needs food but is super versatile. Cant wait to try more from this producer.

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