June 10, 2019 - Not much fruits left, past its prime
July 23, 2017 - A Northern Rhone Dinner with Doug; 7/22/2017-7/23/2017 (Chez Senna): Red fruit and white pepper nose. Red fruits and a healthy does of white pepper on the nose with some licorice on the finish. Tannins are still a bit prickly. There's plenty of life left and it should be drinking well on it's 25th birthday.
I liked this quite a bit; the other tasters at the table were a bit more indifferent.
October 6, 2011 - Mike on Tour (Bibou - Philadelphia PA): muted black fruit, leather, and olive. finish is a bit watery and a touch sour.
October 6, 2011 - Mike On Tour - Philadelphia (Bibou (1009 S 8th St., Philadelphia, PA 19147)): The best bottle of this I've had thus far. Still, it is what it is. A bit underripe and burly. Beyond the green note, there is a leathery earthy note on the palate with just the subtlest bit of perfumed red fruit. While I doubt this will ever evolve into something more than what it is now, it is a nice drinking wine in an off vintage.
August 29, 2011 - Fascinating wine. On night 1, it started out thin and rough with a chalky, almost CA Syrah-esque texture that I didn't particularly care for. Over the next couple of days in the cellar, this opened up tremendously, and the fruit filled out, the texture got to be more silky and the fruit became perfumed and almost exotic. Lots of earth and olive tapenade/fig paste. Finishes strong. To think that this wine was made in the wash-out vintage of 2002 gives me pause on two counts. If this wine is as good a it is in 2002, how good a winemaker does Michel Chapoutier have to be, and I cannot help but wonder how good this wine must be in top vintages like 1999. I can highly recommend this wine.
February 5, 2010 - Slightly better than last bottle. Darker fruit but still disjointed. Going to put other four bottles deep into cellar.
April 25, 2009 - A White Burgundy Followed By 3 Blind Reds (Philadelphia): I was a little disappointed by this but I have high hopes that it will improve with time. Perfumed and floral nose. Mild oak, with a touch of salinity on the nose. Resembled stewed tomatoes. Sweet spice and herbs with a hint of nail polish remover. The nose went back and forth between good and bad, Good heft with this wine but the palate never matched what I expected. Tannic and tough to crack right now. May open up with time. Slightly bitter finish.
February 22, 2008 - Pleasantly surprised for the '02 vintage. Wine had good spice on the nose with balanced oak overtones. Decanted for about 2 hrs before drinking and decent fruit came through on the palate. Proof that the best producers, with the best soil can make decent wine in bad years
August 12, 2006 - Rhone Walk-around Tasting (Carolines Wine Shop): 4 ha. Syrah. An intense, brooding bouquet filled with rock dust, truffle, aniseed, pepper and dark fruits.
Full-bodied, the wine has a rich, silky texture with mineral, pepper and expresso notes. Ripe, the mid-palate is quite tight, there is some depth but no real width. Firm tannins, the wine is medium+ with a little herbaceous note towards the end. It lacks a little Hermitage stature or resonance, perhaps vintage-related like the other 2002.
July 6, 2006 - July 4th BBQ--wow, developing nicely for '02! Tons of classic syrah--leather, huge and juniper berry/red currant. Nice smoky meaty integrated oak.