2002 Pax Syrah Castelli-Knight Ranch

Community Tasting Notes (27) Avg Score: 92.5 points

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  1/29/2020 - ElAzul Likes this wine: 94 Points

  Opulent dark berry nose. Cork was brittle despite the wax coating. No matter this wine rocks! I needed a burger wine and instead found a blockbuster Syrah gem that would have paired with the boldest beef or lamb preparation. Huge blackberry,. blueberry palate backed by smooth zesty tannin and tasty acidity. After two hours menthol appeared on the nose as another contributor noted. And also on the palate. What a find, I don't remember where or when I bought it but so glad I did. I kept adjusting my score upward as the wine opened.

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  10/24/2019 - DoubleMagnum wrote: 87 Points

  Deep dark and opaque purple in color as if time has not passed by. Some sediment is present at the bottom of the bottle.
  
  On the nose there are dark fruits, blackberry and black raspberry. On the palate, the flavors are are jammy and cooked. A note of Chambord is also evident. Can’t discern much else as the alcohol is overpowering everything else. It is a big wine, and you can feel it, but there is also some acidity which is dearly welcomed. A hint of tannin arrives ephemerally leaving the palate longing for more. The finish is long and hot. Drinks like Port and better after dinner at this point.
  
  It has to be difficult to get everything under control at 16.9% ALC. When a wine is this ripe, the notes of prunes and raisins arrive sooner than later. Time is not kind to this style of wine. I see the references to new world Côte-Rôtie but, to me, this drinks more like Amarone or a 2003 Châteauneuf-du-Pape to be more precise.
  
  PAIRING: Skirt steak at Choripan. [D]

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  2/23/2019 - Guns and Rosés Likes this wine: 90 Points

  This was a super interesting wine for me. A bit out of balance with 16.9% but I feel like I could see the vision and what the winemaker is going for. New world cote rotie. Reminds me of domaine Jamet. Spoiler alert: the wines get better!

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  12/10/2016 - Burgundy Al wrote: 89 Points

  Pre-Tasting Lunch, Rhone Varietal Edition (Happ Inn - Northfield IL): Tasted double blind. Very ripe, still reasonably fresh, easily identifiable as New World (in contrast to this wine from 2003, which often seems more like Cote Rotie) which made me think this younger. Good concentration and length, but a sweet note on finish I didn't really enjoy.

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  8/10/2016 - andtheodor wrote: 88 Points

  Kind of clunky.

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