2015 Copain Syrah Hawks Butte Vineyard

Community Tasting Notes (6) Avg Score: 89.6 points

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  10/10/2021 - EFrohmader Likes this wine: 90 Points

  Blackberry, violets, iron, blood. Medium-plus body & acidity. Medium-long finish. Drink now or in the next ~3 years.

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  8/28/2021 - wiscgrad wrote: 87 Points

  A bit of a disappointment. A bit thin and acidic. I've had plenty of cool climate syrah, but this one fell shorr

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  4/4/2020 - Mike Dildine Likes this wine: 94 Points

  13.9% abv. Dark ruby, very aromatic. On the palate, ripe plum, blood and olive, topped off with a lifting floral note. Plus depth and length, impeccably balanced and delineated. Wonderful cool-climate Syrah.

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  7/11/2019 - Frank Murray III wrote:

  Decided to open my last remaining bottle, as I had stuck it on my 'drink queue' in CT given the poor showing of the first bottle. I'm jazzed to report that the bottle tonight is nothing like the poor showing from last November. This bottle has lots of depth and stuffing, inky and dark toned with blueberry and black cherry fruit. In fact, if I was served this bottle blind, you could fool me into thinking it is a barrel sample because it exhibits some very primary qualities. This sends me a signal about the quality of the 2015, as nearly 4 years out from harvest it can show these kinds of youthful notes. Has some of the imprint too of whole cluster, with some creosote, herb and olive. This finishes with some grainy tannin and a raw, bold quality, with tang, charcoal and slate. It's hard to believe the contrast between how crappy the bottle was last year against how good this bottle shows tonight. Too bad this is my last one, as I bet this vintage of Hawks will last a good long time. FWIW, labeled at 13.9% ABV, which is quite high in the range for syrah that Wells made in recent years. Maybe this speaks to the density and concentration of the vintage.

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  11/14/2018 - Frank Murray III wrote:

  Alan, are we drinking the same wine? You know these wines as well as I do and it's not drinking like your previous TN. I sought out this wine from the cellar so I could have something low alcohol, with some acid and fruit, i.e. modern era Copain. Grabbed the bottle and on my way to fetch the corkscrew I saw the ABV of 13.9%. Hmm. Wasn't expecting that but OK, I then let the thought slip and I opened the wine, set the cork aside and went away for 20 mins to do some other stuff. Came back afterwards, poured a glass and it comes out a bit dark. Huh. Ok, keep going. Taste it, and it reminds me of cough syrup--this is my immediate, honest reaction. Huh? Is this Copain syrah that Wells made? Smell it, and it throws off a boozy note of heat. What the hell? My hope is that this wine settles down in the next hour, as I am prepared to dump it and forget drinking tonight. More to follow.....this bottle is whack and I am not sure what to make of it. It has a black cherry quality, with really no acidity nor structure and it's boozy. Down the drain with it, as this just has to be off. I have one left and the beauty of this database is that I got this TN for the next bottle, and those of you who own it can judge my TN FWIW. I trust Alan Rath's palate very much, so we'll have to see with some other TNs what people have to say down the road.

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