If you put The Dead Arm at one end of the scale and this at the other, with Cote Rotie somewhere in between…you’re more or less there. Very nice, very elegant but perhaps lacking wow factor.
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I think I'd have enjoyed this more on a different day, but this was wine number 50-something of the day and my palate wasn't forgiving of this relatively tight and austere 2018. I didn't find it particularly expressive- with dark fruit, a smooth angularity on the palate and a cool character. Lots of structure to age and hopefully it'll soften, expand with time.
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Monday night Syrah (Hawksmoor Borough): Double-decanted a few hours earlier, so drunk with the starters. Rather serious, and I think in a slightly closed phase even if the structure was not unapproachable. Attractively middleweight and dark-fruited, refreshing acidity, and a pleasure to drink. That said, this wine couldn't match the purity and excitement of the 2021 we'd tried earlier.
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Upper echelons of very good = 89 points. Very well made but, for my palate, atypical flavour profile for Syrah. Sour cherry and red fruits, new world Pinot esque, think of a quite ripe and extracted Cali Pinot, but with a tannin structure of a light Syrah. All very pleasant, no hairs out of place, and an interesting surprise, but not really what I’m looking for in a South African Syrah.
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3/2/2024 - Cake & Fine Wine wrote: 92 Points
If you put The Dead Arm at one end of the scale and this at the other, with Cote Rotie somewhere in between…you’re more or less there. Very nice, very elegant but perhaps lacking wow factor.
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9/18/2023 - Joshvoulters Likes this wine: 90 Points
I think I'd have enjoyed this more on a different day, but this was wine number 50-something of the day and my palate wasn't forgiving of this relatively tight and austere 2018. I didn't find it particularly expressive- with dark fruit, a smooth angularity on the palate and a cool character. Lots of structure to age and hopefully it'll soften, expand with time.
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9/18/2023 - NickA Likes this wine: 91 Points
Monday night Syrah (Hawksmoor Borough): Double-decanted a few hours earlier, so drunk with the starters. Rather serious, and I think in a slightly closed phase even if the structure was not unapproachable. Attractively middleweight and dark-fruited, refreshing acidity, and a pleasure to drink. That said, this wine couldn't match the purity and excitement of the 2021 we'd tried earlier.
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8/30/2023 - cubswinws Likes this wine: 90 Points
Very nice syrah. Could easily pass for a Northern Rhone.
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7/3/2023 - Wine_Hoarder Likes this wine: 89 Points
Upper echelons of very good = 89 points. Very well made but, for my palate, atypical flavour profile for Syrah. Sour cherry and red fruits, new world Pinot esque, think of a quite ripe and extracted Cali Pinot, but with a tannin structure of a light Syrah. All very pleasant, no hairs out of place, and an interesting surprise, but not really what I’m looking for in a South African Syrah.
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