March 25, 2024 - Pretty intense black olives on initial open. All the usual Cayuse hints of barnyard, high acid, integrated tannins, and nice fruit. Long finish.
March 17, 2024 - Heater week; 3/8/2024-3/17/2024 (Chicago, IL): Back to the funky, dirty wines. Not a fan of the leathery, animale quality here, as it feels a bit like Cordier. The finish here is slightly bitter as well, and the alcohol and structure again stick out too much, as the fruit is a bit disjointed or missing.
February 11, 2024 - Super Bowl 58, 2024
January 11, 2024 - This opens with a definite whiff of tobacco smoke and cherry juice. The smoke blew off (yuck, yuck) and underlying notes of tobacco, gravel and berries emerged into a delightful, well balanced drink. Surprisingly light on its feet considering the pedigree.
December 31, 2023 - 2 hour decant; flavors holding steady from my last bottle. Just an outstanding wine...sad it's my last bottle, but had to go big for NYE! No rush to open this one...it has many years of development ahead.
November 25, 2023 - Drank over two hours after sitting in a decanter for one. Notes from the garden and spice cabinet struck us the most: roses, potting soil, fennel seed, celery seed, and fenugreek. Of course there is plenty of fruit too. All very elegant and seamless. The wine put on more weight as we drank it, with the expected funk coming out more over time as well. We felt like it was more heady and powerful from Burgundy stems.
November 13, 2023 - Hosted a tasting for longtime wine friends.
N black cherries, funk, brine, smoke
P black cherries, plum, funk, smoked meat, brine
F long in length, nice mouthfeel, has a long life ahead
Overall a big forward wine that needs a few more years to really show IMO.
50+5+8+17+13
4
November 11, 2023 - Epic Blind Tasting with Great Buds (Virginia): Cool nose of musk, black olive, roasted figs, blueberries, iron, gravel, leather. The palate is rich and deep but suave and such impeccable balance -- dense but yet fresh, still. Flavors of dark plums, blueberries, black cherry pie, laced with a lot of bacon fat, black pepper, grilled steaks, along with smashed rocks and freshly paved road. Amazing stuff, built for the long haul. Guess: 2016 Cayuse Syrah Armada. So close to a perfect guess!
November 5, 2023 - This was drinking beautifully, a little band-aid on opening but that blew off very quickly to leave a savory wine with great fruit and meaty depth. Primary of course but delicious none the less.
October 21, 2023 - Wafts of plums, soy sauce and lavender scents jump from the glass, continues to open with air, a sturdy acidic streak carries flavors of red cherry, dried plum, olive brine, pickle juice and smoke, complex on all levels, fine balance and harmony, tasty and mouth-watering, reaching the fun area in the drinking window, singing right now, great vintage for Cayuse