December 12, 2021 - Light earthy cherry-raisin; coarse; layered finish.
November 23, 2020 - 塞子非常干净，20多年的保存状态真没得说。初尝的香气和味道让人可能有一刻会觉得是不耕地，但稍微仔细些就会尝到一点西拉的辛辣味，并且酸度特征和大多数勃艮第不一样，但不对比不反思可能难以分辨。不过Cote Rotie在北隆河大多数以优雅见长，不像大多数hermitage那么雄壮。
好多花香黑果红果、淡淡肉香白胡椒，还有别的，但是我说不上来。总之非常复杂好闻。入口没有闻起来这么高级（因为香气太牛逼），细碎的单宁，虽然没有铺满口腔，但细腻度没问题，也完全融合了。回味和酸度有足够的持久度带出咸鲜。总之，完美的陈年状态，高级的香味，没有破绽的口感和回味。
May 9, 2020 - Single-blind Syrah from Anywhere (Virtual): Single blind served covid style, so a 1/4 bottle in a glass jar that had been poured and sealed an hour previous. This wine was classic old world cool-climate syrah. From the beginning, scorched earth, loam, grilled meats, roasted vegetable, saddle leather, a little funk, It took about an hour for some reddish black fruit to show up, that seemed a mix of plum, raspberry and blackberry. My WOTN.
May 8, 2020 - Single Blind Tasting, with the following wines:
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1998 M. Chapoutier Côte-Rôtie La Mordorée
1999 P. Jaboulet Aine Hermitage La Chapelle
2009 Lillian Winery Syrah Blue Label
2010 Two Hands Shiraz Bellas Garden
2017 Boom Boom Syrah
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The wines were poured in separate sealed glasses at 5:00 pm and consumed between 6:30 and 8:00 pm. The old world and new world wines were easy enough to figure out, this was due to the different styles of the wines and aided by the fact that the two old world wines were 10 years older. Likewise, the Boom Boom was easy to pick out due to its youthfulness and simplicity. The Bella's Garden was also relatively easy to identify due to its style and (as one taster mentioned) a hint of eucalyptus in the flavor profile. That made the Lillian easy to identify too (as the only new world wine remaining. It was more difficult discerning the between the two old world wines (in fact, I had them backwards, as did others). That is not to say they were similar (not even close), but both wines were older and definitely old world.
1998 La Mordoree - I must confess, I am partial to French wines in just about every category except Syrah. Perhaps it is my inexperience with them (I have not been fond of several, so consequently, I do not drink many). Perhaps I just don't like them when they have significant age (I have only had a couple younger ones, and they were much more agreeable with my palate than the older ones). Just to be clear, I have had some very expensive Northern Rhone Syrahs, including 1989, 1990 and 1991 Chapoutier Ermitage Le Pavillon. These wines do not impress me, although I am sure others would find them quite tasty. I find older Rhone Syrah seems to maintain a host of tertiary flavors, but lack fruit. This wine was no exception. I did enjoy the earthiness, meat, and leather flavors that dominated this wine, and there was some fruit left to compliment those flavors (I prefer when the tertiary flavors compliment the fruit, rather than the other way around, although I still appreciate the wine either way). The nose on this wine was probably the best of the group, with a wide array of scents ranging from blackberries to red currant, and from honeysuckle to forrest floor. There were also scents of wet leather and dust. On the palate, leather, earth and dirt dominated with hints of red and black fruit and even a smidge of oakiness. The finish was medium, and while fairly complex, it lacked the "wow" factor. A solid 91 in my book. I think this would have been drinking better a few years ago, so I would drink sooner than later...I do not foresee this wine benefiting at all from additional aging (in fact, I see it going further downhill).
September 20, 2019 - Complex with pepper, ripe plums, toast, mushrooms. Round mouth feel and integrated tannins. Perfect balance of fruit, tertiary flavors and mouth feel. Outstanding wine. Blind at Monopole and open at home the following night.
January 13, 2019 - The wine was opened and decanter for sediment, and aired for about 2 hours, then recorked and drunk an hour later.
Not nearly as vibrant and pure as my previous bottles, was overshadowed by a brown sugar caramel odor. Did have notes of herbs and dark fruits. Wasn’t stewed, but overall lacked freshness. Fell short of the ‘94 opened with it.
October 11, 2018 - Dark crimson. Cork intact, clean and needing a strong arm to pull. Aroma develops and changes. Raspberries, cherries, vanilla, mushrooms, wood - nuanced. Beautiful moutfilling tannins with long finish that embraces the entire mouth. Seems at its peak but could last for quite a few years.
July 28, 2018 - IPNC Weekend 2018; 7/26/2018-8/2/2018 (Linfield College, McMinnville, OR): Had this also at the salmon bake. This seemed off to me tonight. I was getting a fair bit of heat and wood on the palate. We've seen some bottle variation on these with some previous storage concerns.
July 28, 2018 - Brought to IPNC and didn't get around to this until the salmon bake. Shared with friends on a beautiful night. Pepper, bacon fat, dark berries but really this is a savory wine. Medium weight, drinking nicely.
April 1, 2018 - (Blind tasting)
Full, rich, hedonistic nose of toast, bacon fat, blackberry, smoke and cigar. Minerally and perfumed depth. Very inviting and expressive.
Medium-fullish, rich and harmonius palate, perfectly developed. Fresh fruit still left. Very good grip. Concentration, power and flowery purity.
WOTN, but then again, our tasting group seems to prefer Cote-Rotie over Hermitage.