December 29, 2023 - Consistent with previous notes. Still plenty to offer; elements in balance.
June 17, 2023 - Inky purple color. Black currant, graphite, and blackberry on the nose. Blackcurrant, maraschino, cherry, vanilla, and licorice flavors. An iron core and will integrated tannins before a long finish. The fruit is still fresh, still has another 8 to 10 years in bottle.
February 17, 2023 - Wow, that a vin so big & bold, with such a glass-fillling nose, unbreakable and full, is also so supple, refined, tangential- in that it seems to work as the focus or the background equally well. Hmmm.. Beguiling. We only coravin'd a (very full - oh why do we bother?) glass.
When we fork the cork to decant, it may open in a whole new way. If it does, we'll write then too...
Bought it 3/2018 from Wine Social, Oxford, for $49. Cellared since. Well worth that. And the five year wait in the racks...
Rare, only 325 cases in total!
Nearly up there w the best Penfolds Bin 389s...
Yum.
NOTE: Emptied the previous-day-coravin'd bottle, and it was more cohesive, more delicious, smoother, and we bumped it to a 92...
Enjoy!!!
January 25, 2023 - Opened, poured and let sit about 1/2 hr. A bit of dark fruit nose. Taste is more like my 11/27/22 Day 2 note: "meatiness" aspect is minimal; more reddish fruit; reasonable balance; tannins not an issue. Unfortunately, taste is somewhat muted and, as with prior bottle on Day 2, not much syrah profile. Taken as a group (there were a couple before these 2 postings), something of a disappointment; nothing approaching the higher scores posted.
November 27, 2022 - Opened, poured and let sit 1/2 hr. Nose of dark fruit. First sip is sweet fruit, with earthiness/meatiness towards the finish. Over the next 45 min the sweet fruit remains, but no so prominent; the meatiness aspect begins to dominate. Pretty reasonable balance, except by the end of the glass astringency takes hold on the finish, along with the meatiness. Maybe a little too meaty for my taste, but fits the Cali syrah profile reasonably well. This probably can go longer, but not sure if the fruit component will survive.
Tried this again on Day 2 and liked it better. The "meatiness" aspect was very faint and sweet red fruit more in evidence. Tannins not a particular issue and reasonable balance. This version might be hard to recognize as syrah, but more pleasurable than Day 1.
July 18, 2022 - Dark purple hue. Pretty floral nose. Sweet Syrah fruit hits the tongue upfront. Blackberries and black currant, Rich inky fruit w/o seeming too hot or excessive. Yes, nicely balanced overall. Fruitiness lingers with a fairly clean, slightly mineral finish.
May 17, 2022 - Still quite youthful, a wonderfully full flavored wine with upfront blackberry flavor and nice underlying acidity. While it starts big in the front the mid palate brings out a more refined earthiness and aspiring meat flavors. Really wonderfully balanced wine with softening tannins and a long blue fruited finish. Easily has another five plus years of refinement potential.
March 15, 2022 - Really enjoyed this. In a good drinking window. Inky teeth staining wine that has rich but not overpowering fruit.
January 18, 2022 - The '19 offer arrived so I had to try this. I'm buying the '19s.
January 2, 2022 - Stands out, even for a Carlisle. Could go 93. Big, ripe, complex, has several more years left.