2021 La Pelle Syrah Bien Nacido Block X
Community Tasting Note
csimm wrote:
Friday, April 7, 2023 - A few days in Napa with fellow CT'r Cristal2000: Salty and funky on the nose, with an instant cool climate aura that makes you wanna stick your face further into the glass and pretend you tripped and fell in a blackberry field off the coast of Patagonia (what with all the blackberry fields in Patagonia). Well, this is more like a St. Joseph lookalike, with smoke, black sea salt, brambly blackberry, pine needles, muddled plum, rainbow peppercorns, and bark flavors making for an old school profile that also presents as clean, pure, and fresh (a neat trick to be sure). There is a stemmy quality here without the bitterness (another neat trick), adding a savory-meets-old world classicism contour.
Give it a few years to develop some additional weight and complexity, but I’d say there’s merit in trying one of these early, too. It’s nice to find a cooler climate Syrah out of California that doesn’t instantly lead with booze and brawn on the front end. This 2021 La Pelle is a Syrah for those who own smoking jackets and Vizslas.
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6 comments have been posted
4 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue (3,002 views)
Comment posted by Hawkeye_Addict:
8/29/2023 2:06:00 PM - “smoking jackets and vizslas”
I’m in! 😁
Comment posted by KJD45$:
8/29/2023 3:19:00 PM - Great review
I have to try some
Comment posted by csimm:
9/1/2023 8:45:00 AM - Hey there. Sorry for the late reply here. Maayan does an interesting take on CA Rhone. This iteration is very cool climate St. Joseph like. Not a fruit bomb like so many we see. Cheers!
Comment posted by KJD45$:
1/29/2024 5:33:00 PM - I like your reviews but on this one I differ..
See my notes and feel free to respond…
Maybe someday in person we will compare a wine or two
Comment posted by csimm:
1/29/2024 5:46:00 PM - Hi KJD! You’re absolutely right on the ABV. I edited my note. My bad. I had it in my original informal notes as much less. I thought Maayan said that, but my error for sure. I’d surely be interested in having another bottle of this with you, because with my two experiences with this wine, it did not register as syrupy with me. In fact, it was more stemmy and woody to me. I’m all in for a good throw down and would certainly welcome trying wine together to see where our palates align and/or differ. :)
Comment posted by csimm:
1/29/2024 5:47:00 PM - …. And my apologies if I steered you wrong on this one. I try to be as accurate and thoughtful about my assessment of a wine as possible. Sorry about that.