Community Tasting Note

• csimm wrote: 96 points

  June 6, 2022 - Christopher Tynan: Get out your differential equation cheat-sheet kids because this Syrah is one PRI-MAR-Y panther. If you even know what a ‘linear polynomial in the unknown function and its derivatives’ means, or think that a0(x)y+a1(x)y′+a2(x)y′′+⋯an(x)y(n)+b(x)=0 is a good opening for a Hallmark card, then 1.) Why are you on Cellar Tracker? (You should be minting money at some dot-com startup in Palo Alto), and 2.) You will love the 2018 Tynan Judge Syrah in its current form. Blackberry seed, crunchy blackberry, rigid red licorice (like when you used to bite the ends off both sides of a Red Vine, shove it in your large icy Coke at the movies, and use it as a straw), and frozen blood (like in The Thing) flavors straight-arm their presence over the palate with authority and steely-eyed intent. Acid pops and clenches on the cheeks, closing out with a finish that is direct, no-nonsense, and quite frankly, wickedly irresistible. It’s like watching a favored anti-hero playing Jeopardy! and mopping the floor with the competition. “Who is… Snake Plissken?!”
  
  And just when you think the Daily Double has ya all caught up and you’re about to lose everything, a hefty swirl in the glass awakens meatier roast beef, sanguine, salami, olive, black cherry, and purple plum skin notes that add motivational layers and budding complexities that beam with signals of what’s to come of this wine. It’s a bit of a young Cornas-Hermitage half-breed, and is most certainly planted more in the meatier plot than its year-older 2017 sibling, which is a redder-fruited and floral Cote Rotie-type of contrast. This 2018 reminds me of a taut 2015, which is a great thing, as I love what the 2015 is morphing into as time goes on. The 2018 has more overt freshness than I recall from the 2015 when it was at a similar stage, but a time-machine forecast of the 2018 seems to indicate it is off to a racing start. Just know that the track its on is more of a long-haul competition. Of course, if you’re looking for cocktail plush party bomb gratification, maybe best to head west over to Hall or something equally cotton-candied. If you’re a cerebral cool-climate Social Network kind of Rhone Ranger, then this is your wine without question. Hold bottles until you figure out the Diophantine equation and master the summing of three cubes.

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7 Comments

• Cablover1982 commented:

  8/15/23, 10:21 AM - Sold! i'm getting a 3 pack! thanks sir, cheers!

• DaButtah commented:

  8/15/23, 3:00 PM - You’re a real sick puppy and I salute you.

• csimm commented:

  8/15/23, 4:45 PM - … just trying to keep the wine tasting notes of the world from becoming slightly more engaging than just “…medium to medium plus tannins; tastes like plums; finish is medium…..” zzzzzzzzzzzzz :)

• Wubai commented:

  8/20/23, 12:20 PM - In for a 3 pack as well. How could I not after reading your notes. A ‘17 I opened on release was drinking great. Opened a second bottle last month and it had shut down, so I think better to keep my hands off these.

• csimm commented:

  8/20/23, 2:46 PM - I do believe Tynan's Syrah (and MG of course) are built to last and show best after a handful of years in bottle (10? ideally)! This 18 is certainly built for the cellar.

• sfwinelover1 commented:

  11/7/23, 4:07 PM - Not that I was realllly thinking about popping a bottle as UPS pulled away from the curb, but thanks, nonetheless . . . And that zzzz quote sounded suspiciously like one of my tasting notes (actually, 800 of them). Lol

• csimm commented:

  11/7/23, 10:09 PM - Oh come on sf. You may not annoyingly wax poetic as much as my overly elongated TNs, but you have quite the informative content going on with your notes. For your palate, this wine will be best in 2075.

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