2016 Horsepower Vineyards Syrah High Contrast Vineyard

Community Tasting Notes (8) Avg Score: 92.6 points

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  4/6/2024 - breadSheeran Likes this wine: 93 Points

  A really fascinating wine (shocker, I know, for anything Cayuse-related). Decanted for 8 hrs and sampled it throughout - went through some very contrasting yet all ugly phases, especially in first 5 hours, where there was just so many different heavy flavors that weren’t giving each other room on the palate. The wine finally mellowed out around hour 7 and became really lovely, definitely some classic Cayuse/Rocks character but refined and well-balanced. Notes at this point were white flowers and potpourri on the nose, and the flavor profile was mild roasted meats, underripe blackberries, very light chocolate, and some metal. Salinity at the front of the palate, medium tannins at the back. The most striking aspect was the body, specifically how incredibly light it was for the flavor profile - I never felt bogged down in the funk as I often do with Baron’s wines. Finish was much shorter than I expected, too. I have no predictions abt how this will change with more time in the cellar but I plan to open my remaining two bottles in abt 3 and 10 years.

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  8/26/2023 - grub94 Likes this wine: 93 Points

  Excellent american syrah. Tasted along side a 16 cornas. Group was split re the favorite. I liked the Horsepower. Nose displayed lots of tertiary notes followed up with dark red fruit, balanced soft tannin and moderate acidity. Wish i had more!

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  2/17/2023 - danielbleier Likes this wine: 94 Points

  Dark and brooding - with blackberry, bay leaf, smoked meat and black olive. Not for those looking for a fruit forward, easy drinker. Ready now but should last for 4-7 more years.

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  1/7/2022 - RPerro Likes this wine: 95 Points

  First experience with this bottling and vineyard. After reading the notes here, I opted for a 6 hour decant. This was an odd one...when first poured into the decanter at noon, it had a very strong candied fruit aroma. So overly sweet smelling it make me wonder if the bottle had been heat damaged somehow. Flash forward 6 hours and it became a completely different beast. Medium body. Salinity is off the charts. Only a very very slight Rocks Funk component, setting this one apart from the other Horsepower bottlings I've had. Flavors of huckleberry, saline, iodine, and minerally rock, with hints of funk, grilled beef, and licorice. Followed this one over 4 hours and it got better and better. I'd say hold for another year or two, or prepare for a lengthy decant. Great one, and so far one of my favorite Horsepowers. Drink 2023 - 2036.

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  6/18/2021 - ELH wrote:

  Not sure I understand this wine. Not at all like any other Syrah I have experienced (e.g. Booker Fracture or other Paso Robles offering). I was expecting something heavy bodied and dense, but it seemed almost mid-bodied. I was looking for something warm, peppery, deep black cherry or blackberries, but it had some other element that I can't identify. Reserving judgment. Not going to put a number on it.

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