June 10, 2023 - Dark purple-red at core, slightly translucent as it moves to the edges. Aromas of plums. Finely detailed on the palate, medium weight. Plums, currants, blackberries. Nice mineral note. Slightly drying tannins, good acidity and balance. Finishes moderately long with spicy notes. Still nice but the end is in sight. Drink next 2 to 3 years.
June 2, 2023 - Been a while since I opened one of these, first wine off the vineyard. Color is dark garnet, not quite opaque, barely any sign of its almost 15 years of age; enticing nose, garrigue-y notes, dried herbs, hint of creosote; beautiful dark berry flavors on the palate, blackberry, bit of bosenberry, with some carry over of the garrigue and dried herbs from the nose, acidity is nicely mouthwatering, still some moderate, fine tannins here. Is it California? Is it Rhone? Blind I’m not sure I could tell. A fabulous syrah here, particularly considering it was just the first vintage. Bravo to Paul Gordon for his vision in planting Halcon, and Wells Guthrie for making a brilliant wine.
Finishing the remains of the bottle on night two, hasn’t lost a thing, still deliciius, complex, youthful. I’ve got a few remaining, will be fun to try these (hopefully) overmthe next 20 years!
Just looked back at notes for this wine, and see that I’m the only one who has ever posted, lol. Going all the way back to barrel tasting at the winery. Guess this is a real unicorn.
December 5, 2021 - Nicely scaled. The fruit is new world, but built like an old world wine with a pleasant tannic streak and good acidity. Loads of blackberries, with some green herbs and pepper. While a perfectly fine bottle, the wine lacks a certain je ne said quoi — just not terribly interesting to drink.
May 31, 2021 - Very euro. Lots of bricking but the palate shows a tight and fine tannin lacing. Really nice with sausage.
May 31, 2021 - Served blind. This stumped me as it didn't show as I would think for a Copain Halcon. Didn't get blue fruits or the balance I would have expected. Spicy and plummy, meaty. Some herbals, and now it makes sense as the stems were showing in this way. There is also some of the old wine aroma starting to creep in, and also some bricking of the wine around the edges, so the age is beginning to set in. Tobacco, tangy and tight into the finish.
September 10, 2020 - As others have noted, this is surprisingly big, dense, and dark for such a cool climate, but it's balanced and quite tasty. Some secondary notes but not a whole lot as of yet.
July 11, 2020 - Wine in the time of Corona Virus - Quarantining in NYC & NH; 3/7/2020-9/1/2020 (NYC/NH): Popped this open on Sat night and found it a bit too forward for my tastes. Revisited the rest of the bottle on Tuesday and it had settled in a bit - more of juicy/dark fruited style of Syrah (clearly new world), but enough balance here to make it work. Not my fave - but clearly improved with a few days open in the fridge. I would decant this before serving.
January 3, 2019 - This wine has a tremendous amount of character - lots of berries and a bit of funk. A real wakeup call after sipping a smoothed out old bordeaux. But overall it's a bit out of balance - a bit too showy and over the top for my taste.
December 18, 2018 - PopnPour, tasted over 2 hrs
-opaque inky dark red purple
-subtle dark berry smoked meat
-barely med acidity peeks in late, med weight faint dark berry and licorice shell with a hearty earthy core that flows into med tannins on the moderately long finish
-substantial stuffing in the Old World sense, not flashy or profound but solid genuine soulful and satisfying, still may have some upside, this bottle is clearly the winner of the 3 I have tasted
May 31, 2018 - Clearly made in the "new" style of Copain, this wine could easily be mistaken for a French Rhone with it earthy and gamy core of flavors. Black fruits and minerals complement the earthy flavors and are presented in a somewhat austere package with a bit of a hollow mid-palate. There are still plenty of tannins left so there is time to wait. If you want to sample it now, give it a reasonable decant.