2010 Cowan Cellars Syrah Moaveni Vineyard

Community Tasting Notes (18) Avg Score: 90.2 points

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  8/17/2023 - ssouth Likes this wine: 94 Points

  2010 Cowan Cellars Bennett Valley Syrah
  Alc 13.2%
  Still dense purple color
  Nose of smoked pork/ garrigue with a few floral notes
  Beautiful intense fruit and earth on the palate. Nice balance and acidity
  Long smooth finish
  Dead ringer for a fine Northern Rhone Syrah. Perhaps a high end Cornas or Hermitage?
  
  Great with Indian Lamb

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  8/28/2020 - Rieslingfan wrote:

  Classic tale: last bottle, best bottle. This is spectacular. IMO it’s the best wine Jim Cowan ever made. Flambé of raspberries, new leather, warm herbs, roasted meat, and a dash of finishing kirsch that all adds up to a beautiful mouthful of Syrah, marrying the best of California sunshine, with the French soul of Syrah. I opened it as a semi-casual pairing with Mexican takeout. Instead it captured my attention, and continues to capture it. I wish I had more. It’s just so staggeringly good.

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  1/18/2020 - James Kim Likes this wine: 91 Points

  Wine Tasting Group - Napa and Sonoma - Jan 18, 2020 (Classic Wine Storage, Dallas, TX): Double decanted off sediment for 1.5 h. Floral aromas with high toned raspberries, blackberries, olives and mild roasted meats. Palate with blackberries, earth, herbs, roasted meats, and hint of olives. Tannins have mostly resolved.Excellent acids with a medium body give the wine an elegant mouthfeel. Nice contrast to the 2017 Cowan syrah that follows. The body and elegance probably reflects the cold 2010 vintage. 91+

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  10/20/2017 - MLipton wrote:

  Consumed tonight with an eclectic assortment of food. Lovely Syrah fruit in a medium-weight package with plenty of balancing acidity. Still some back-end tannins, but quite food friendly. It hasn't developed much beyond the primary stage, but is still very enjoyable for what it is. Well done, Jim!

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  2/12/2017 - MartyL wrote: 90 Points

  I first tried this wine in Jan, 2016, when I accessed the bottle with a Coravin. At that point, I found the wine disappointing---it came off as disjointed, with a simple black fruit overpowered by acidity and a drying finish. Aeration didn't help at that point, resulting only in the disappearance of the fruit. I forgot about the bottle for a year or so and revisited it tonight, about a year later. After about an hour of air it is a totally different wine and much more appealing. It's still fruit forward in a black fruited sort of way (and there is no mistaking this for a wine that comes from anywhere but a sunny place), but there is an intriguing smoke on the nose that lends interest. The acidity has calmed down a bit and although there is clearly a tannic presence on the palate, it doesn't clip the finish the way it did a year ago. Don't know if the wine changed, I did, or both, but tonight it is a very fine accompaniment to a braised dinner on a wintry night.

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