March 13, 2024 - Wow, this was awesome. I've loved what other producers (Copain, Rhys/Alesia) have done with fruit from this vineyard but this is the first time I've tried the Halcon version. Ringer for a Northern Rhone (maybe stylistically closest to Cornas or Hermitage) with abundant granite, smoke and game meat flavors. Good freshness and acidity keep it interesting.
March 10, 2024 - This feels much more open vs the 2018 a year ago. Lots of old school Syrah character - black olive, herbs de Provence, plum, violets. Medium acidity and a long finish. Really quite complex and wouldn’t be about of place among St Joseph’s and Cornas bottlings at 2-3x the price. Outstanding stuff.
October 1, 2023 - Consistent with bottle 1, maybe a bit more savory. Really delicious.
June 1, 2023 - Really, really good. Just explodes in the glass…and on the palate there’s a great combo of savory notes and CA fruit. I agree that there’s still a youthful green note—we’ll see if that dissipates over time.
September 26, 2022 - Unfortunately, this 3rd bottle of the '19 Halcon Elevacion did not live up to the prior two. One difference is this bottle came on a "close-out" from an online shop, vs. the other bottles direct from the winery. I couldn't say this was a factor, but the wine was less balanced, showing less depth of fruit, and it was not able to hide the harsh tannins (mainly for preceding reasons), making for an overall less pleasurable tasting experience. So, while this last bottle dropped a notch in my estimation, it was still quite good, better still with food. I certainly did find the bottle in need of time to settle whereas previous, while certain to be long lived, were more than delightful taking part in there infanticidal ritual. I was excited to juxtapose this wine to the excellent (and dare I write peerless for its realm) Drew Perli from the '18 vintage from the other night, but this bottle did not not provide for a well-matched comparison. In any event, I have no less than 15 more bottles of this wine to ponder on and investigate over the coming decades.
June 6, 2022 - This is a very young Syrah that drank well over two days, but needs more time in the bottle for everything to come together. Purple in color and opaque in the glass
DAY 1: Aromas of blackberry, black licorice, tar, black pepper, and violets on the nose; tastes of blackberry, tar, and black pepper on the palate; full-bodied, medium acidity, and medium(+) tannins; slightly astringent finish
DAY 2: Aromas of blackberry, tar, iron, herbs, and violets on the nose; tastes of blackberry, herbs, and black pepper on the palate
June 5, 2022 - Young but already offering up plenty. Tight and carbonic on opening. 5 hours later it’s a dream - the whole group is beaming and singing its praises. Try another bottle in 1-2 years before too much of the brightness falls out.
October 12, 2021 - I found this more brooding than the Alturas is at the moment. Not closed but the fruit is in a bit of a tussle with the stem inclusion right now. There is a greenness to it that sticks up a bit, leaving a slight vegetal character. The tannin also gets a bit of an astringent character from this as well. None is anything a couple more years won't help. Its a lovely wine that just needs more integration and the smoothing out that time brings. Left about a half a glass for four nights in bottle. Nary a hint of oxidation. I think the window on this one is going to be longer and slower than the Alturas. A rest is also going to be more helpful. I love how easy these wines combine fruit expression and secondary sorts of characters. Its never a simple trick in California even from wineries I love. Alas, right when they have hit stride they are leaving for Europe!
October 8, 2021 - I drank this wine over three days and it "improved" on day-2 (held strong on day-3). I think this would be the finest Syrah from Halcon I've tried. The flavor density and fruit purity is off the chart, but the wine sacrifices nothing for these endowments -- no overt alcohol, over-weighted presence on the palate, lack of clarity, or imbalance. Structural components are in place here for a very long aging cycle. But, best of all, I felt this wine was alive and changeable in terms of its lovely bouquet and just how it presented on the palate through the glass pours. There's that X-factor that really pushes this into the Outstanding category, and I'm sure some bottles (some day) Extraordinary. A very fine "final" (?) effort.
July 20, 2021 - From a bottle opened yesterday: dark, nearly opaque garnet, medium body, not quite the density of its Alturas sibling. Wonderful nose, with floral crushed dark fruit, bit of spice, garrigue, dried herbs; deep, dark, somewhat brooding blackberry fruit on the palate, quite structured, with loads of complex spices, herbs, finishing with slightly chalky, grippy tannins. One of the most northern Rhone-like California Syrahs I can remember, a spectacular wine, in need of some years to really show its stuff.