February 3, 2024 - this bottle took a little bit is time to come around. First sips had a good fruit but a drying finish. With about 45 minutes of air (not decanted) it rounded out. Still very fresh no rush to drink up.
November 9, 2021 - Quite a Northern presence with black olives galore, minerals, bacon and a tight vertical feel. While you feel the richness of the South, the Syrah is dominant. Seems mature, but no hurry.
#LesFlorets#PB
July 20, 2021 - Give this air! Decanted 1 1/2 hours in advance, was muted on nose and palate. 2 hours later with extra aeration finally staring to open. Then a great syrah experience with smoky, leathery, vegetable nose. Palate still bit lacking in focus, will see where more air takes this. Ok, body starts to emerge with notes of a great northern Rhone. Last sip the best
November 18, 2017 - Nose: B++ Palate: B+
My #10, Group's #7 (113 pts). Tasted blind.
September 9, 2017 - PB 50 Rayas Extravarganza (PB's house, Charlottenlund): Blood & iron here, dead ringer for Northern Rhône; love it.
June 17, 2015 - Tasted vis-a-vis the '98 this is certainly leaner and more northern in style, fully mature, this shows all the classic tell-tale notes of olives, bacon and berries - and had we tasted blind, I would probably had gone north. I has kept remarkably well and still have years left. (with PB)
December 18, 2014 - The score is pretty much moot for a wine like this. You could just easily score it an 86 or a 93 for reasons that I hope the following note will make clear.
Pulled the cork and it looks like I pulled it from an 8 year old wine, not one that is 17. Almost pristine.
This wine was just astounding 6 years ago, particularly for the vintage.
Now it's a ghost of itself... a ghost that is nevertheless more of a pleasure than most wines that are "in their prime."
Plum/dark cherry and cedar, spice, minerals and earth on the nose but also the faded notes of a wine past its prime.
Terrific attack on the palate that is paradoxically broad-shouldered and elegant at the same time. Mid-palate has essentially disappeared...gives way to a little burst of leather, dark cherry, cedar...which quickly gives way to the acidity of a hollowed out wine. It really does taste like northern Rhone syrah except that it is "taller" if that makes any sense.
Unfortunately, the pleasure is entirely in the clarity of the skeleton of this wine. There is no longer any flesh on it. Fun as hell to taste...but really a memory of what it once was.
Still, the quality of the wine making is entirely evident at every moment and that is worth it.
January 2, 2013 - syrah française...sauf Rhône nord (groupe du mercredi, Bruxelles, Belgium, chez PhV): note moyenne du groupe: 16,2
April 7, 2012 - Like in a shell this time around, everything is there somewhere but it is not really coming up to the surface to strutt its stuff. I detect some green olive flavors, some smoked meat and some subdued, dark red fruit. Hard to tell if this bottle was off, on the second day I couldn't tell for sure. Needs time. With Niels and AD at home.
March 3, 2012 - Rayas dinner at Peter's (New Rochelle, NY): Many of the same fragrances and flavours as the '96, though not showing quite the same depth and the same degree of smoky/meaty complexity. Excellent, but overshadowed with the brilliant '96 alongside.