Heater week; 3/8/2024-3/17/2024 (Chicago, IL): I liked this slightly more than the 2014 tonight. It shows a bit more sweetness to the fruit, but a more cheerful and open disposition. Almost feels more ready to drink now. A slight hint of volatility, as Allemand can have, but it's more accent than anything. Fantastic.
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Minimal sediment, inky purple-black in color. Nose is immediately apparent: cloves, cherry cola, smoke, perhaps ever so slightly medicinal. Initially the palate is clearly well crafted but nothing special, balanced, good tannic backbone. The length is already impressive with an earthy, mushroomy finish.
With more air a distinctive pepper note emerges, smoke, mint. A well constructed wine with no lack of structure. Despite the open nose, to me it feels austere and undoubtedly a bit young. I am looking forward to opening my next bottle - but only after a few more years in the cellar.
93 points for its current showing but I'm looking for much more upside potential over time.
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Thierry Allemand – Cornas Reynaud 2013 mot 2014. Her var det 2013 som virkelig bergtok meg – en kraftig vin, rikt krydret med pepper og oliven; men med en helt vanvittig digg floral hinne, tenk morgendugg på skogsinnsjø (poetisk dagen derpå). Litt som Rayas i CNDP er dette vinmakerkunst på skyhøyt nivå, der en kraftfull og i seg selv god vin gjøres til noe helt ekstraordinært – i hvert fall den første drøye timen. Det siste kvarte glasset tapte seg litt,
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Lots of barnyard from the start. After an hour decant, the barnyard blew off and notes of blueberry, plum, earl grey tea, licorice, and cinnamon emerged. Med body, med alcohol (13.5%), med+ acidity, and med tannins. Would have liked a little more body to pair with my bone-in ribeye but it was delicious on its own. It was really fun to try but not sure that I’m going to be chasing these down at the current price point.
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I'd say that Allemand Reynard is my single favorite syrah to drink young. With a bit of age, the nod usually goes to Chave Hermitage, but I find that Allemand is often at its best when it's still young and primary (I've actually been somewhat disappointed with many older bottles recently -- not clear to me whether it's b/c the winemaking has improved or the wines just don't age as well -- anyone reading this have a more educated view they can share??)
This 13' tonight is showing great! So bright, elegant and powerful, with firm but silky tannins, deep & rich fruit. Dark purple, with beautiful aromatics and loads of depth and black pepper. Fantastic wine.
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Reynard Dinner (Ada St.): Not quite as compelling as a terrific bottle from last year. All the right parts and pieces, but the structure was a bit rough making the wine a little harsh and short on the finish. Outdoor and warmish temps might have hurt the showing as well.
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Allemand Reynard survey (Chicago, IL): Another bottle that I think we caught at a bit of an inopportune moment. The fruit is distinctly red and light, with a perfumed, lifted quality to it. Clearly a more granitic edition of this wine, this shows more white pepper and bright red fruit, veering a bit towards St. Joseph in style. On the palate, this has more of a Cornas bent, with lots of tannin and structure that needs more time to resolve. The question in my mind here is whether or not the fruit will last until the structure resolves. For the 2015, I think that is indeed the case; I'm less certain here. This bottle wasn't the most showy today, and I think there's a few more years before this is ready for prime time.
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Wonderful combination of black and red fruits with plenty of black pepper and spice. Not as powerful as I would expect from Allemand, but very well balanced. Very good already now.
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Dujac and Moreau come to town (Chicago, IL): This was a bit of a revelation for me -- I hadn't thought that the 2013 had turned out like this. I really liked the slightly lighter profile here, with a little lift, and fruit that had a perfumed, red bent (well, as red as Reynard gets). Not as dense as your typical Reynard either with plenty of elegance and silkiness on the palate. Almost mature tannins.
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Decanted a few hours then back into the bottle a few more. Black fruit, cassis, olive brine, smoke, violets, cigar…. There is a lot going on but overall seem disjointed and shallow. Likely this needs ten year plus.
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Beautiful, elegant wine. Polished to a sheen, lovely nose and palate of red and black berries and savory olives. Not worth the price if you care about that. $375, Tribeca Grill.
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Magnifique en tous points! Ouvert 4 heures avant dégustation. Robe rubis violet. Le nez offre des arômes classiques de myrtilles, violette, cerises noires, lard grillé. Au palais l’acidité est élevée au début mais diminue avec l’air, le vin se fait complexe, profond avec une grande finesse de tanins et la longueur excellente. Tout au début de son plateau, il gagnera sans doute à être conservé encore quelques années. Ce Reynard s’est amélioré durant les 3 heures qu’on l’a dégusté. 94-95
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Youthful, just past primary and rewarding. Alluring nose of pure blackberry and black cherry laced with intense all-spice, campfire, game, violets, olive and white pepper. Palate is crazy pure and delineated with flavors that echo the nose. Powerful yet so elegant with polished edges that unleash a clean rusticity into a long, slightly grainy finish. A special wine. Just approaching what should be a long peak window.
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Nose was classic Allemand. Dark juicy plum, hint of minerality with an animalistic wildness. Balanced acidity. Palate is a touch heavy at the moment, with grainy gripping tannins.
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Dégustation Volnay/Chambolle 2015: Je n'ai pas assez pris de note, en raison des conversations qui s'animaient. Un magnifique vin que je situe en Rhône nord. Plein, droit et charmeur à la fois, d'une belle profondeur, un fruit pur, l'équilibre est admirable. Je me mouille et évoque un Thierry Allemand de 8 ans ....coup de circuit, on ne peut pas toujours se tromper :) 93+ pts
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deepish young purple color, dark fruits, cherries, licorice and core of raw leather on the nose, on the palate very young and primary yet, approachable but with noticeable tannins, plum fruits, rounded white stone notes, a great depth with a fine long finish, good future ahead.
*(***), 2028++
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Opened 2 hours. Color is deep bright ruby red. Not the usual touch of purple. On the nose: Pepper, lavender, violets, blackberries, beef juice and cassis. On the palate: Blackberry, cassis, pepper, warm lavender and violets, blood , smoke and cola. Long finish. I can’t lie, Allemand’s wine just alway hit the mark for me. This might be my lowest scored one and it’s a 95. They are complex, elegant but also very drinkable. I’m down to two mixed cases which i ration.
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Tight on opening. Decanted for an hour or so and then followed through the evening. Berry fruit, pepper and earthy/mineral notes. More open than the bottle I had in February 2019. That said, this is still youthful/structured and has nowhere to go but up. Try again 2-3 years from now?
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Restaurant purchase; This was stellar; makes me remember why I was so excited to buy the Allemand wines a few years ago. Too bad they've gotten so expensive, but this demonstrates why. The nose is singing; ripe brambly fruit with crushed stone, fresh game meat, fresh black pepper, thyme, smoke, and violet all make their way across. The palate is certainly young with robust tannins and acidity, but with a good lamb shank right now it is still very enjoyable. Lots of upside and bottom line a great Cornas.
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Renegade Wine Dinner - Thierry Allemand (Marc Forgione - Tribeca, NYC): Super young and not really ready to drink (although more open than the '13 Chaillot). Nose of red fruit and earth. On initial entry, I get red and black fruit, but then the tannins clamp down pretty hard so mid and back palate are pretty shut down. This needs at least another 5 years of cellar time.
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Rhone, lots of it (Chicago, IL): Too young! It's classic Reynard power -- dense and dark, with black fruit and a relatively big tannic structure. There's some nice Allemand perfume to go along with this, but mostly the story here is of a delicious wine that still needs a lot of time to round off some sharp corners. Again, there's no doubt this is a great wine in the making, but the best course of action is hands off for a while.
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Was pretty open upon popping but locked down a bit after half an hour or so. Decanted and it finally started to open back up after a couple hours. This needs some time, but there is so much here and this is an excellent vintage for Allemand. I’ll try to wait a couple of years before trying another.
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Cornas kanskje aller beste produsent henter druer fra vinstokker som ble plantet blant annet i 1900 og 1960. Vinen lagres på store fat som brukes i ca seks sesonger. Druene fermenteres hele og Allemand bruker lite svovel i vinene sine som er svært ettertraktede.
Vinen er mørk som i graven på farge, stor og intens på nese med raffinerte kirsebær, bjørnebær og krydder – en fantastisk herlige eleganse som en blir litt forelsket i.
Konsentrert med stor frukt med modne kirsebær, skogsbær og krydder på paletten som er rett og slett delikat og forførende. Litt grønnere skjær her, men overhodet ikke negativt. Litt lys sjokolade og lær på en flott utgang. Dette er herligheten selv.
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Too young, of course, but explosive; ionide, blood, black olives, dense, black fruit, tannins, but the core of fruit dominates & wins. Extremely intense. Will live 20 years IMHO. #Le Mangevins
Inky dark purple in color. On the nose lots of purple dark violet, black berries, blue berries. The palate is surprisingly light considering the color. Very soft and forward.
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Opened about 2.5 hours before drinking. Poured off about 2oz.
Tasted at the 2.5 hour mark. Nose is glorious cracked pepper, white lilies and dark blue fruit. The is soft deep and dark withgreat purity. Full body with that same dark rich fruit from the nose. Just a fantastic young syrah.
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3/17/2024 - acyso wrote: 95 Points
Heater week; 3/8/2024-3/17/2024 (Chicago, IL): I liked this slightly more than the 2014 tonight. It shows a bit more sweetness to the fruit, but a more cheerful and open disposition. Almost feels more ready to drink now. A slight hint of volatility, as Allemand can have, but it's more accent than anything. Fantastic.
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2/17/2024 - dhwesley Likes this wine: 93 Points
Minimal sediment, inky purple-black in color. Nose is immediately apparent: cloves, cherry cola, smoke, perhaps ever so slightly medicinal. Initially the palate is clearly well crafted but nothing special, balanced, good tannic backbone. The length is already impressive with an earthy, mushroomy finish.
With more air a distinctive pepper note emerges, smoke, mint. A well constructed wine with no lack of structure. Despite the open nose, to me it feels austere and undoubtedly a bit young. I am looking forward to opening my next bottle - but only after a few more years in the cellar.
93 points for its current showing but I'm looking for much more upside potential over time.
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2/3/2024 - Krokfjord Likes this wine: 94 Points
Thierry Allemand – Cornas Reynaud 2013 mot 2014. Her var det 2013 som virkelig bergtok meg – en kraftig vin, rikt krydret med pepper og oliven; men med en helt vanvittig digg floral hinne, tenk morgendugg på skogsinnsjø (poetisk dagen derpå). Litt som Rayas i CNDP er dette vinmakerkunst på skyhøyt nivå, der en kraftfull og i seg selv god vin gjøres til noe helt ekstraordinært – i hvert fall den første drøye timen. Det siste kvarte glasset tapte seg litt,
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12/26/2023 - Theamateurwinesnob Likes this wine:
Lots of barnyard from the start. After an hour decant, the barnyard blew off and notes of blueberry, plum, earl grey tea, licorice, and cinnamon emerged. Med body, med alcohol (13.5%), med+ acidity, and med tannins. Would have liked a little more body to pair with my bone-in ribeye but it was delicious on its own. It was really fun to try but not sure that I’m going to be chasing these down at the current price point.
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11/20/2023 - joshabramson Likes this wine: 96 Points
Tasted twice with similar notes. Love this wine!
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11/18/2023 - hprphf wrote: 93 Points
Decanted. Way too young, good structure, minty, hot. 93+
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8/30/2023 - joshabramson Likes this wine: 96 Points
I'd say that Allemand Reynard is my single favorite syrah to drink young. With a bit of age, the nod usually goes to Chave Hermitage, but I find that Allemand is often at its best when it's still young and primary (I've actually been somewhat disappointed with many older bottles recently -- not clear to me whether it's b/c the winemaking has improved or the wines just don't age as well -- anyone reading this have a more educated view they can share??)
This 13' tonight is showing great! So bright, elegant and powerful, with firm but silky tannins, deep & rich fruit. Dark purple, with beautiful aromatics and loads of depth and black pepper. Fantastic wine.
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6/2/2023 - Nanda wrote:
Reynard Dinner (Ada St.): Not quite as compelling as a terrific bottle from last year. All the right parts and pieces, but the structure was a bit rough making the wine a little harsh and short on the finish. Outdoor and warmish temps might have hurt the showing as well.
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6/2/2023 - acyso wrote: 93 Points
Allemand Reynard survey (Chicago, IL): Another bottle that I think we caught at a bit of an inopportune moment. The fruit is distinctly red and light, with a perfumed, lifted quality to it. Clearly a more granitic edition of this wine, this shows more white pepper and bright red fruit, veering a bit towards St. Joseph in style. On the palate, this has more of a Cornas bent, with lots of tannin and structure that needs more time to resolve. The question in my mind here is whether or not the fruit will last until the structure resolves. For the 2015, I think that is indeed the case; I'm less certain here. This bottle wasn't the most showy today, and I think there's a few more years before this is ready for prime time.
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2/28/2023 - Burgundy Al wrote: 92 Points
Wonderful combination of black and red fruits with plenty of black pepper and spice. Not as powerful as I would expect from Allemand, but very well balanced. Very good already now.
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2/28/2023 - acyso wrote: 95 Points
Dujac and Moreau come to town (Chicago, IL): This was a bit of a revelation for me -- I hadn't thought that the 2013 had turned out like this. I really liked the slightly lighter profile here, with a little lift, and fruit that had a perfumed, red bent (well, as red as Reynard gets). Not as dense as your typical Reynard either with plenty of elegance and silkiness on the palate. Almost mature tannins.
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2/21/2023 - EricU Likes this wine: 95 Points
Excellent wine. An interesting contrast to the 2013 Chaillot (had 2 nights prior). More aromatic, more acidic and heavier tanins.
Blue fruits, mineral, olives and bacon fat notes. Mouth coating tanins faded within an hour. Elegant and complex.
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12/24/2022 - MAXIMUM SATISFACTION wrote: 94 Points
Decanted a few hours then back into the bottle a few more. Black fruit, cassis, olive brine, smoke, violets, cigar…. There is a lot going on but overall seem disjointed and shallow. Likely this needs ten year plus.
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11/17/2022 - diggydan wrote: 95 Points
Beautiful, elegant wine. Polished to a sheen, lovely nose and palate of red and black berries and savory olives. Not worth the price if you care about that. $375, Tribeca Grill.
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11/5/2022 - Ericsson Likes this wine: 94 Points
Magnifique en tous points!
Ouvert 4 heures avant dégustation. Robe rubis violet. Le nez offre des arômes classiques de myrtilles, violette, cerises noires, lard grillé.
Au palais l’acidité est élevée au début mais diminue avec l’air, le vin se fait complexe, profond avec une grande finesse de tanins et la longueur excellente.
Tout au début de son plateau, il gagnera sans doute à être conservé encore quelques années. Ce Reynard s’est amélioré durant les 3 heures qu’on l’a dégusté.
94-95
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9/13/2022 - Nanda wrote: 94 Points
Youthful, just past primary and rewarding. Alluring nose of pure blackberry and black cherry laced with intense all-spice, campfire, game, violets, olive and white pepper. Palate is crazy pure and delineated with flavors that echo the nose. Powerful yet so elegant with polished edges that unleash a clean rusticity into a long, slightly grainy finish. A special wine. Just approaching what should be a long peak window.
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10/17/2021 - mye wrote:
Nose was classic Allemand. Dark juicy plum, hint of minerality with an animalistic wildness. Balanced acidity. Palate is a touch heavy at the moment, with grainy gripping tannins.
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9/10/2021 - Hanibal Likes this wine: 93 Points
Horizontal Volnay/Chambolle 1er cru 2015: blind...peppery and has nice amplitude. Silky, very nice balance
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9/10/2021 - d'Artagnan wrote: 93 Points
Dégustation Volnay/Chambolle 2015: Je n'ai pas assez pris de note, en raison des conversations qui s'animaient. Un magnifique vin que je situe en Rhône nord. Plein, droit et charmeur à la fois, d'une belle profondeur, un fruit pur, l'équilibre est admirable. Je me mouille et évoque un Thierry Allemand de 8 ans ....coup de circuit, on ne peut pas toujours se tromper :) 93+ pts
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9/10/2021 - Mario17 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Un très beau Reynard, du poivre fin, très frais, plein et riche mais avec une belle élégance, puissance contenue. 92-93
A very nice Reynard, pepper, very fresh, full and rich yet with some class and elegance, powerful but balanced.
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7/10/2021 - B Paul wrote:
Notes similar to prior bottles. Continues to drink well, though there’s upside to holding and it ideally would have another 7-10 years.
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7/9/2021 - Elpaninaro Likes this wine:
deepish young purple color, dark fruits, cherries, licorice and core of raw leather on the nose, on the palate very young and primary yet, approachable but with noticeable tannins, plum fruits, rounded white stone notes, a great depth with a fine long finish, good future ahead.
*(***), 2028++
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4/24/2021 - Brian of Mull Likes this wine: 95 Points
Opened 2 hours. Color is deep bright ruby red. Not the usual touch of purple. On the nose: Pepper, lavender, violets, blackberries, beef juice and cassis. On the palate: Blackberry, cassis, pepper, warm lavender and violets, blood , smoke and cola. Long finish. I can’t lie, Allemand’s wine just alway hit the mark for me. This might be my lowest scored one and it’s a 95. They are complex, elegant but also very drinkable. I’m down to two mixed cases which i ration.
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4/19/2020 - B Paul wrote:
Tight on opening. Decanted for an hour or so and then followed through the evening. Berry fruit, pepper and earthy/mineral notes. More open than the bottle I had in February 2019. That said, this is still youthful/structured and has nowhere to go but up. Try again 2-3 years from now?
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5/9/2019 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:
Restaurant purchase; This was stellar; makes me remember why I was so excited to buy the Allemand wines a few years ago. Too bad they've gotten so expensive, but this demonstrates why. The nose is singing; ripe brambly fruit with crushed stone, fresh game meat, fresh black pepper, thyme, smoke, and violet all make their way across. The palate is certainly young with robust tannins and acidity, but with a good lamb shank right now it is still very enjoyable. Lots of upside and bottom line a great Cornas.
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4/15/2019 - retired_and_roving wrote:
Renegade Wine Dinner - Thierry Allemand (Marc Forgione - Tribeca, NYC): Super young and not really ready to drink (although more open than the '13 Chaillot). Nose of red fruit and earth. On initial entry, I get red and black fruit, but then the tannins clamp down pretty hard so mid and back palate are pretty shut down. This needs at least another 5 years of cellar time.
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3/10/2019 - acyso wrote: 93 Points
Rhone, lots of it (Chicago, IL): Too young! It's classic Reynard power -- dense and dark, with black fruit and a relatively big tannic structure. There's some nice Allemand perfume to go along with this, but mostly the story here is of a delicious wine that still needs a lot of time to round off some sharp corners. Again, there's no doubt this is a great wine in the making, but the best course of action is hands off for a while.
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2/1/2019 - B Paul wrote:
Was pretty open upon popping but locked down a bit after half an hour or so. Decanted and it finally started to open back up after a couple hours. This needs some time, but there is so much here and this is an excellent vintage for Allemand. I’ll try to wait a couple of years before trying another.
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10/21/2017 - Andre Brattland wrote: 95 Points
Cornas kanskje aller beste produsent henter druer fra vinstokker som ble plantet blant annet i 1900 og 1960. Vinen lagres på store fat som brukes i ca seks sesonger. Druene fermenteres hele og Allemand bruker lite svovel i vinene sine som er svært ettertraktede.
Vinen er mørk som i graven på farge, stor og intens på nese med raffinerte kirsebær, bjørnebær og krydder – en fantastisk herlige eleganse som en blir litt forelsket i.
Konsentrert med stor frukt med modne kirsebær, skogsbær og krydder på paletten som er rett og slett delikat og forførende. Litt grønnere skjær her, men overhodet ikke negativt. Litt lys sjokolade og lær på en flott utgang. Dette er herligheten selv.
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4/11/2017 - beatles wrote: 96 Points
Too young, of course, but explosive; ionide, blood, black olives, dense, black fruit, tannins, but the core of fruit dominates & wins. Extremely intense. Will live 20 years IMHO. #Le Mangevins
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7/22/2016 - FYC wrote:
Inky dark purple in color. On the nose lots of purple dark violet, black berries, blue berries. The palate is surprisingly light considering the color. Very soft and forward.
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7/21/2016 - clayfu wrote:
Opened about 2.5 hours before drinking. Poured off about 2oz.
Tasted at the 2.5 hour mark. Nose is glorious cracked pepper, white lilies and dark blue fruit. The is soft deep and dark withgreat purity. Full body with that same dark rich fruit from the nose. Just a fantastic young syrah.
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