Heater week; 3/8/2024-3/17/2024 (Chicago, IL): Like Chomsky, I opened one of these and it was fucking awesome. In some sense, very, very similar to the 1983 that we had last night. Almost a hint of pyrazine here, but lovely, intense olive notes with plenty of meaty, bloody qualities as well. Full-bodied with plenty of syrah brine, smoke, and blood. Long, lingering finish, showing lots and lots of archetypal syrah notes. The clear wine of the night for me.
Obscenely good nose. Mechanic shop, forrest, garage. It's honestly hard to describe. Dense, earthy, and dark fruit. Stewed plums, new shoes, leather, truffle?, white pepper. Perfectly-balanced palate. The fruit is a little brighter, but still dark. Deeply cooked strawberries, black pepper, plum, wet rocks, pickled blueberry, dark flowers.
Wine of the weekend for me, and that first nose of the glass will live on in my memory for quite some time. A true gem of a bottle.
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I opened one of these, and it was fucking awesome. At a wine dinner with any number of outstanding wines on the table, this was the red of the night (and maybe WOTN). Just one bottle left for the next time I want to knock my own socks off.
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OK, finally I get to try this when I'm ready - and it's still almost too much. Crazy nose of olive saline, meaty umami with some dark fruits. Palate is so salty and olive. Great palate presence light feel and elegance but such depth. Long saline dark fruits finish. Crazy so potent that it makes me sick. Thanks Zak ;) Nose - 5.5-6/6, Palate - 5.5/6, Finish - 5.5/6, Je ne Sais Quoi - 1.5/2 = 18-18.5/20.
Day 2. Very different. It’s lightened up. Wild strawberry sweetness with an amazing green-herbal-love streak. Palate is similar. Very fresh and alive with fruit at first and then tons of Unami and olive later. Very pure and wild. Long olive and savory finish.
Holy shit, this is in the running for the best Juge I've had. Wild animalistic notes, peppers, bold olives, soy sauce, dried bark, Asian herbal medicine, spiced fruits, and other exotic flavors. The density of this wine is awesome, but it's also somehow so elegant on the palate, like a red Burg. The length on the finish is insane.
Wowza.
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WB Boys Weekend; 10/14/2021-10/17/2021 (Highlands NC): "Wow, there's a nose!" I said when I first smelled this wine that Robert contributed. There were amazing aromas of game meat, wild animal, green grass, dog fennel, dark cherry, black earthy soil, black and green mineral, briny olives, and lavender hints. The wine tasted great, the red and black fruit was bright and juicy, cool toned for sure, there was also a saline quality to this dark beauty, with more thoughts of olives and cooked game, and earth mineral. I loved the combination of dark color and cool toned red fruit. The finish was maybe a little short, but much later, I am told by rest of crew, it stretched out.
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The 2011s have always held back something in reserve. Far more structured and brooding than the vintages surrounding it. But when they get air and unfurl the depth of fruit is quite nice. Black pepper and olive emerge on the finish. The profile is darker weightier fruit opposed to the 10,12,14 ahead of it with a touch of tannic grip. Still really good but it is the one that needs the most time to express itself.
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Part of @clayfu.wine weekly party box. Ranking from initial taste was 12, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15. Ranking at end of the night was 14, 10, 13, 11, 12,15.
2011 - Middle of the pack on this night. Showed a lot of sweet sandalwood/oak. Sweet red and blue fruits on the nose. Heavier on the palate, which made it a touch out of balance, and stuck out in the lineup.
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Remote Tasting #4 - Marcel Juge '10-'15 Vertical (Zoom): Quick note from memory - this wine showed a stemmy note that smelled like sweet oak, this particular note was a bit distracting and unbalanced the wine overall. Bottom of the '10-'15 vertical.
Tasted this on day 2 & 3 and the wine did come around a bit, though still ranked in the bottom of the pack.
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At Aldo sohm bar, decanted for about an hour. Upon first pour the wine was bursting. Blueberries, violets, pepper, meat all in a nice package. Tannins were gracefully integrated. Lovely wine. Only drank half as I was drinking alone and took the bottle home. The next day the bottle had lost its freshness. Definitely not one to hold onto but a joy to drink now and quick
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Just insanely good right now. Huge, wild, complex nose of brambly fruit and subtle herbs, followed by a juicy, angular palate that couldn't be anything but N. Rhone Syrah. So fresh - so clean. Really special and in a great spot right now.
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Drinking very well with youthful power and density. Aromas are dark and deep with pepper, iodine, black fruits, and charcoal. Salinity on the palate keeps this fresh and lively despite its density. Should age very well.
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one of the absolute best young Syrah you can drink right now. The nose is so fragrant and floral, full of wild earthy spice and red berries that are ever present in the glass even when empty. The palate is juicy and clean, flavor town of crunch raspberry fruit and great acidity. Light weight on the palate. So easy to drink right now.
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The nose, OMG, the nose, so complex, a melange of spice and earth, one of those wines you can just sit there and smell without feeling any need to taste it. But taste you must, and disappoint it does not: fabulous dark, complex fruit, great intensity with blackberry and pomegranate notes, excellent acidity, has subtle power with amazing elegance for such a young wine. One of the best Syrahs I've ever had. And such an amazing, complex nose.
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First experience with this wine, and it lived up to the hype. Opaque with aromas of iron, raw meat, blackberry jam. Same fruit on the palate mixed with plums, olive tapenade. Muscular wine but very balanced. Thanks Jorge.
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So we're doing a 2016 Falkenstein sampling at the local Filipino BBQ place and Z brings this as a surprise. Oh boy! I have to admit that I wasn't in the right headspace for red at that point, and this wine was potent enough to throw off my equilibrium. The nose is a heady mix of savory and salty olives and meats, rocky minerals, dark fruits - black cherry and blackberry, along with some dark floral notes. Oh, yes, there was something really interesting on the nose - some perfume of bacon and marzipan or something ... that part of the nose was so creamy you could almost feel it. The palate is similar - it's got power and depth, but good acidity - this thing is savory to the nth degree. I wish I had been in a place to really focus on it. Thanks Z!
Smoke and black olives with soft black fruit on the nose. Some lift on the palate with a light to middle-weight mouthfeel. As elegant as Cornas gets, there isn't much tannin here but everything feels very much in balance. Very Burgundian and very Juge.
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Tuesday Night Double Blind $60+ (Alpharetta, GA): Semitranslucent maroon; vanilla on nose, black pepper, green, kind of screachy, young, granite dust; softer texture, high acid, lots of sour cherry, Burg like but whole cluster, dusty, lots of mineral; called '11 Levet Cote Rotie; very transparent, well done but at the same time I don't see this being a top tier Cornas, characterful and good.
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Juges gonna Juge. The nose is that classic juge of wild spice of olive, pepper, sweet meat and bright red fruit. Really no nose like Juge, so exotic and beguiling. The fragrance just slowly waifs out of the glass making you go back to smelling it constantly.
The palate is beautiful, didn't have the depth or concentration of the 07 Allemand Reynard next to it, but it was still gorgeous and pure in its own way. For more lithe on the palate. Really accessible wine right now.
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Ahh, Northern Rhone and it smells and taste like it. Classic aromas of stem and olive, with similar flavors inside the palate. I had a full glass of this stuff and I really enjoyed it. Nothing like big pants CA syrah, instead showing all of why I keep getting more and more revved around drinking wines from this area. Meat juice, a tarry note and medium weight. Terrific.
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One of those rare occasions when the palate matched the lovely fragrance. Black olive, black pepper, smoked meat, and ripe fruit. It is not too young to enjoy now - it is a delicious and beguiling wine.
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Amazing wine. Rieslingfan's note nails it. Exotic and sauvage flavours combined with more classic Syrah fruit and leatheriness, all conveyed on a remarkably light and graceful frame that makes this shockingly accessible right now. So fragrant and complex that there's no guilt in opening this young, but I'm glad there are more in the cellar.
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I was immediately struck by an exotic aromatic, mingling sandalwood and cedar (it actually reminded me a bit of a young Mouton), which then gave way to a classic blend of Northern Rhone Syrah elements - meat, warm herbs, seared bacon fat and stone. On the palate there was more of that meaty character, along with black olives and pepper spice. It's only medium weight, which made it very easy to drink, but I really just wanted to smell it, and keep experiencing that mix of the exotic and the classic.
There are a few wines that are so aromatically captivating that I don't care all that much if I ever taste them. This is one of those. I could be perfectly happy just smelling the wine, but if someone wants to force me to drink it then I am good with that as well!
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Two wines with half of the Wine Advocate crew. (Racines, NYC): Certainly young, but showing beautifully with wonderful purity and clarity. Just what you want aromatically and on the palate from a Cornas. The black fruit is ripe, but not remotely overripe and is joined by olive, garrigue, meat and light seaweed/iodine notes all buttressed by sprightly acidity and suave tannins. Absolutely delightful. Solid A-.
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This is really good and such a classic expression of cornas. Wonderful expression of fruit and smoked meat and olives with a hint of wild herbs, and great acidity. Just wonderful and perfect with a cut of venison from Ruxbin in Chicago.
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Pretty much what Salil said. This is just awesome. By the second day this is just divine -- drinking like a 10-year-old Cornas, supremely wild and herbaceous with relaxed dark red fruit. The texture is exquisite. Though like many 2011 Northern Rhones this may not make for the oldest of bones, it ought to give extreme pleasure for at least a decade.
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Surprised how savoury and tertiary this seems already. The aromas are closer to what I'd expect from an older, mature Northern Rhône - lots of meaty and leathery funk, black olives and other saline notes, and some higher toned stemmy and faintly herbal elements. It's very graceful and polished on the palate with light, very fine grained tannin and bright acidity making it very easy to drink right now. Fantastic Syrah.
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3/16/2024 - acyso wrote: 95 Points
Heater week; 3/8/2024-3/17/2024 (Chicago, IL): Like Chomsky, I opened one of these and it was fucking awesome. In some sense, very, very similar to the 1983 that we had last night. Almost a hint of pyrazine here, but lovely, intense olive notes with plenty of meaty, bloody qualities as well. Full-bodied with plenty of syrah brine, smoke, and blood. Long, lingering finish, showing lots and lots of archetypal syrah notes. The clear wine of the night for me.
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11/17/2023 - cos65 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Dense ruby
Intensely smoky nose, almost industrial, (like no wine I’ve ever tasted before)
Dense smoky gamey flavors. A wine to seek out
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2/9/2023 - zachb1125 Likes this wine: 97 Points
Dinner with Salil and Nick -2/2
Obscenely good nose. Mechanic shop, forrest, garage. It's honestly hard to describe. Dense, earthy, and dark fruit. Stewed plums, new shoes, leather, truffle?, white pepper. Perfectly-balanced palate. The fruit is a little brighter, but still dark. Deeply cooked strawberries, black pepper, plum, wet rocks, pickled blueberry, dark flowers.
Wine of the weekend for me, and that first nose of the glass will live on in my memory for quite some time. A true gem of a bottle.
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6/9/2022 - Chomsky wrote:
I opened one of these, and it was fucking awesome. At a wine dinner with any number of outstanding wines on the table, this was the red of the night (and maybe WOTN). Just one bottle left for the next time I want to knock my own socks off.
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6/8/2022 - Seth Rosenberg Likes this wine: 96 Points
OK, finally I get to try this when I'm ready - and it's still almost too much. Crazy nose of olive saline, meaty umami with some dark fruits. Palate is so salty and olive. Great palate presence light feel and elegance but such depth. Long saline dark fruits finish. Crazy so potent that it makes me sick. Thanks Zak ;) Nose - 5.5-6/6, Palate - 5.5/6, Finish - 5.5/6, Je ne Sais Quoi - 1.5/2 = 18-18.5/20.
Day 2. Very different. It’s lightened up. Wild strawberry sweetness with an amazing green-herbal-love streak. Palate is similar. Very fresh and alive with fruit at first and then tons of Unami and olive later. Very pure and wild. Long olive and savory finish.
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12/13/2021 - Satoshi Nakamoto Likes this wine: 96 Points
Holy shit, this is in the running for the best Juge I've had. Wild animalistic notes, peppers, bold olives, soy sauce, dried bark, Asian herbal medicine, spiced fruits, and other exotic flavors. The density of this wine is awesome, but it's also somehow so elegant on the palate, like a red Burg. The length on the finish is insane.
Wowza.
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10/14/2021 - Charlie Carnes Likes this wine: 93 Points
WB Boys Weekend; 10/14/2021-10/17/2021 (Highlands NC): "Wow, there's a nose!" I said when I first smelled this wine that Robert contributed. There were amazing aromas of game meat, wild animal, green grass, dog fennel, dark cherry, black earthy soil, black and green mineral, briny olives, and lavender hints. The wine tasted great, the red and black fruit was bright and juicy, cool toned for sure, there was also a saline quality to this dark beauty, with more thoughts of olives and cooked game, and earth mineral. I loved the combination of dark color and cool toned red fruit. The finish was maybe a little short, but much later, I am told by rest of crew, it stretched out.
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5/11/2020 - clayfu wrote:
The 2011s have always held back something in reserve. Far more structured and brooding than the vintages surrounding it. But when they get air and unfurl the depth of fruit is quite nice. Black pepper and olive emerge on the finish. The profile is darker weightier fruit opposed to the 10,12,14 ahead of it with a touch of tannic grip. Still really good but it is the one that needs the most time to express itself.
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5/7/2020 - mye wrote:
Part of @clayfu.wine weekly party box.
Ranking from initial taste was 12, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15.
Ranking at end of the night was 14, 10, 13, 11, 12,15.
2011 - Middle of the pack on this night. Showed a lot of sweet sandalwood/oak. Sweet red and blue fruits on the nose. Heavier on the palate, which made it a touch out of balance, and stuck out in the lineup.
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4/25/2020 - mikelikeswine wrote:
Remote Tasting #4 - Marcel Juge '10-'15 Vertical (Zoom): Quick note from memory - this wine showed a stemmy note that smelled like sweet oak, this particular note was a bit distracting and unbalanced the wine overall. Bottom of the '10-'15 vertical.
Tasted this on day 2 & 3 and the wine did come around a bit, though still ranked in the bottom of the pack.
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10/6/2019 - Ben H. Likes this wine:
Very enjoyable now, so vibrant and light.
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2/5/2019 - Jinandy Likes this wine:
At Aldo sohm bar, decanted for about an hour. Upon first pour the wine was bursting. Blueberries, violets, pepper, meat all in a nice package. Tannins were gracefully integrated. Lovely wine. Only drank half as I was drinking alone and took the bottle home. The next day the bottle had lost its freshness. Definitely not one to hold onto but a joy to drink now and quick
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12/4/2018 - rc@ughey wrote: 94 Points
Just insanely good right now. Huge, wild, complex nose of brambly fruit and subtle herbs, followed by a juicy, angular palate that couldn't be anything but N. Rhone Syrah. So fresh - so clean. Really special and in a great spot right now.
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6/18/2018 - tooch wrote: 94 Points
1 hour slow-ox decant.
Drinking very well with youthful power and density. Aromas are dark and deep with pepper, iodine, black fruits, and charcoal. Salinity on the palate keeps this fresh and lively despite its density. Should age very well.
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6/18/2018 - clayfu wrote:
one of the absolute best young Syrah you can drink right now. The nose is so fragrant and floral, full of wild earthy spice and red berries that are ever present in the glass even when empty. The palate is juicy and clean, flavor town of crunch raspberry fruit and great acidity. Light weight on the palate. So easy to drink right now.
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6/14/2018 - alanr wrote: 97 Points
The nose, OMG, the nose, so complex, a melange of spice and earth, one of those wines you can just sit there and smell without feeling any need to taste it. But taste you must, and disappoint it does not: fabulous dark, complex fruit, great intensity with blackberry and pomegranate notes, excellent acidity, has subtle power with amazing elegance for such a young wine. One of the best Syrahs I've ever had. And such an amazing, complex nose.
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11/18/2017 - DoubleD1969 wrote: 95 Points
First experience with this wine, and it lived up to the hype. Opaque with aromas of iron, raw meat, blackberry jam. Same fruit on the palate mixed with plums, olive tapenade. Muscular wine but very balanced. Thanks Jorge.
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10/25/2017 - Seth Rosenberg Likes this wine:
So we're doing a 2016 Falkenstein sampling at the local Filipino BBQ place and Z brings this as a surprise. Oh boy! I have to admit that I wasn't in the right headspace for red at that point, and this wine was potent enough to throw off my equilibrium. The nose is a heady mix of savory and salty olives and meats, rocky minerals, dark fruits - black cherry and blackberry, along with some dark floral notes. Oh, yes, there was something really interesting on the nose - some perfume of bacon and marzipan or something ... that part of the nose was so creamy you could almost feel it. The palate is similar - it's got power and depth, but good acidity - this thing is savory to the nth degree. I wish I had been in a place to really focus on it. Thanks Z!
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9/16/2017 - MartyL wrote: 93 Points
Smoke and black olives with soft black fruit on the nose. Some lift on the palate with a light to middle-weight mouthfeel. As elegant as Cornas gets, there isn't much tannin here but everything feels very much in balance. Very Burgundian and very Juge.
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7/18/2017 - Rezy13 wrote:
Tuesday Night Double Blind $60+ (Alpharetta, GA): Semitranslucent maroon; vanilla on nose, black pepper, green, kind of screachy, young, granite dust; softer texture, high acid, lots of sour cherry, Burg like but whole cluster, dusty, lots of mineral; called '11 Levet Cote Rotie; very transparent, well done but at the same time I don't see this being a top tier Cornas, characterful and good.
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7/3/2017 - clayfu wrote:
Juges gonna Juge. The nose is that classic juge of wild spice of olive, pepper, sweet meat and bright red fruit. Really no nose like Juge, so exotic and beguiling. The fragrance just slowly waifs out of the glass making you go back to smelling it constantly.
The palate is beautiful, didn't have the depth or concentration of the 07 Allemand Reynard next to it, but it was still gorgeous and pure in its own way. For more lithe on the palate. Really accessible wine right now.
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12/15/2016 - Frank Murray III wrote:
Ahh, Northern Rhone and it smells and taste like it. Classic aromas of stem and olive, with similar flavors inside the palate. I had a full glass of this stuff and I really enjoyed it. Nothing like big pants CA syrah, instead showing all of why I keep getting more and more revved around drinking wines from this area. Meat juice, a tarry note and medium weight. Terrific.
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6/24/2016 - Diane (LI) wrote:
One of those rare occasions when the palate matched the lovely fragrance. Black olive, black pepper, smoked meat, and ripe fruit. It is not too young to enjoy now - it is a delicious and beguiling wine.
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6/22/2016 - salil wrote: 94 Points
Amazing wine. Rieslingfan's note nails it. Exotic and sauvage flavours combined with more classic Syrah fruit and leatheriness, all conveyed on a remarkably light and graceful frame that makes this shockingly accessible right now. So fragrant and complex that there's no guilt in opening this young, but I'm glad there are more in the cellar.
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6/22/2016 - Rieslingfan wrote:
Thanks to Salil for opening this...
I was immediately struck by an exotic aromatic, mingling sandalwood and cedar (it actually reminded me a bit of a young Mouton), which then gave way to a classic blend of Northern Rhone Syrah elements - meat, warm herbs, seared bacon fat and stone. On the palate there was more of that meaty character, along with black olives and pepper spice. It's only medium weight, which made it very easy to drink, but I really just wanted to smell it, and keep experiencing that mix of the exotic and the classic.
There are a few wines that are so aromatically captivating that I don't care all that much if I ever taste them. This is one of those. I could be perfectly happy just smelling the wine, but if someone wants to force me to drink it then I am good with that as well!
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5/5/2016 - psmith wrote: 93 Points
Intense floral aromatics. Blackberry and some olive undertones. Medium-full bodied. Firm, coarse structure. Styling reminds me of Allemand's Cornas. Really good.
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2/20/2016 - BradKNYC Likes this wine:
Two wines with half of the Wine Advocate crew. (Racines, NYC): Certainly young, but showing beautifully with wonderful purity and clarity. Just what you want aromatically and on the palate from a Cornas. The black fruit is ripe, but not remotely overripe and is joined by olive, garrigue, meat and light seaweed/iodine notes all buttressed by sprightly acidity and suave tannins. Absolutely delightful. Solid A-.
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1/17/2016 - Sheila62 wrote:
This is really good and such a classic expression of cornas. Wonderful expression of fruit and smoked meat and olives with a hint of wild herbs, and great acidity. Just wonderful and perfect with a cut of venison from Ruxbin in Chicago.
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1/4/2016 - yofog wrote:
Totally gorgeous nose on this. Really crunchy and open, with meat, black olive, and graphite. Fine and composed on the palate. Super well delineated.
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11/8/2015 - Chomsky wrote:
Pretty much what Salil said. This is just awesome. By the second day this is just divine -- drinking like a 10-year-old Cornas, supremely wild and herbaceous with relaxed dark red fruit. The texture is exquisite. Though like many 2011 Northern Rhones this may not make for the oldest of bones, it ought to give extreme pleasure for at least a decade.
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10/11/2015 - salil wrote: 93 Points
Surprised how savoury and tertiary this seems already. The aromas are closer to what I'd expect from an older, mature Northern Rhône - lots of meaty and leathery funk, black olives and other saline notes, and some higher toned stemmy and faintly herbal elements. It's very graceful and polished on the palate with light, very fine grained tannin and bright acidity making it very easy to drink right now. Fantastic Syrah.
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