Day 1: Savory wine with minerals, soy, white pepper, red currants, green olives and tar. Super complex wine and medium plus finish. Outstanding 2nd bottle. Drink now to 2028. 94 points Day 2: Rocks funky with minerals, green olives, white pepper, roasted meats and crushed stones. Complex and this will drink well through 2030. 94 points Recommendation: Get some.
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Day 1: Beautiful wine featuring smoked meats, cranberry, dust, minerals, spices, white pepper and floral notes. When you look at a wine like this and think some pay over $100 plus for this quality, I personally love Walla Walla even more. Top 10 wine of the year for sure. 95 points Day 2: Excellent on day 2 with smoked meats, minerals, cherry, dust, white pepper, floral, crushed rock and peppercorn. Medium plus finish. Outstanding wine. 95 points Day 3: More elegant and still singing. Minerals, white pepper, gravel, dark fruits, crush rock, dried flowers and black olives. Medium plus finish and nice acidity. 94 points Recommendation: This is an amazing wine and these are available still on various auctions and under $50 win!
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Not going to provide a long review here as we consumed this puppy out of plastic cups in a Hyatt while watching the Women's World Cup soccer game. Even in less-than-ideal conditions, the velvety texture, smoky-spicy-floral yumminess was evident. It went down well. The US team won. All good.
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Black olives jump right out of the glass, supported by beautiful notes of flowers, pepper and raw meat; very good intensity on the nose here, just a beautiful bouquet. The palate is even more stunning with impressive mid palate persistance, beautiful, deep flavors of meat, smoked bacon, fat and again those black olives as a constant factor here. Despite the quite low acidity it's fresh, lifted and cool. The tannins are there of course, but well integrated. The finish is peppery and offers a great balance of complex flavors, it's just slightly short. All in all a stunning, very polished Syrah though. Really beautiful. 18.5/20
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Medium purplish red rim, no bricking. Initially bubblegum grape with hints of game and pepper. After about an hour, the carbonic/grapey flavors dissipated and revealed more ripe black fruits, spices, smoked game, mineral and peppery notes. On the palate, similar initially but mid palate with significant bitterness of leftover coffee grinds that lingered through the finish and dominated the other flavors. Good acidity and tannins not particularly dry. Bitterness maybe slightly more tolerable after a couple hours of air but still problematic.
Hate to be the outlier here, but disappointing on the palate compared to the nose. The off balance bitterness starting from the midpalate unfortunately ruins the wine. I believe this is made with whole clusters. Feels like however this wine was fermented with stems ruined this wine (overextraction?) -- suffers from the extremes of grapey/carbonic flavors and unbalanced bitterness that destroys the finish. Didn't get better with air. Provenance was good. Not in a dumb phase.
Unfortunately not worth the price. My search for moderately priced alternatives for northern Rhone in the new world continues without much success.
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Earth and blackberry on the nose. On the palate, black cherry, blackberry, plum, and notes of olive tapenade and bitter ash on the medium to long finish, with moderate tannins and strong acidity. This was a very good to excellent value at about $60.
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Never opened to reveal fruit, even on day 2. May be a bad bottle but I don’t think 12 more years of aging would produce a nice bottle. Maybe in a “dumb” stage.
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Enjoyed over an evening with friends. Savory, pepper, coal, ash, peat bog, and smoke throughout. Exceptional balance of fruit, substance, and oak. Wholly integrated alcohol (13.3). If blind, my guess would be ripe vintage, north Rhone Syrah, especially Cote-Rotie, or perhaps Cornas. Very young; it should evolve over the next seven to ten years with ease. World class Syrah! 96-97.
Not bad for a new world Syrah, showed little resemblance to the Northen Rhône wine that Greg wants to offer from his wine, due to the sweeter tannin and more jammy fruits, but quite mineral and good spices on the finish, fruits were jammy but not overpowering, pretty nice for a new world Syrah.
Greg Harrington passed Master Sommeliers’ Examination in early 2000s. His first vintage of Gramercy Cellars was in 2005. He aims to make his wines closer to Hermitage or Côte-Rôtie. John Lewis is his top wine. He uses 100 percent whole clusters and ages the wine in large, used French oak barrels for 18 months.
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Again Helen opened by accident for a late night drink. We had the rest with salmon two days later. VERY good and a lot of fun to drink this can handle somemore time in the basement but fruit is pretty well integrated, i just think that the wine was a bit closed. Yummy though and clearly great product!!.
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Very Rhone. Initially too funky. Give it an hour to let the funk out. Then very ripe - sun dried. Very Rotie.
Whilst it's the same grape (allegedly) I love Shiraz (powerful, rich) and almost loathe Syrah (identity crisis of shiraz).
This is very 'artisinal'. Quite pretty. Almost a hint of strawberry pinot at times. But I' rather drink pinot. Or Shiraz. Or maybe even them blended together. Now that's rare.
Good effort but we hated it the first day. Gramercy Day 2 update: Medium bodied, very woody, almost like birch bark. Vanilla and boysenberries. Much better today, but not sure I'd buy it again at this price point. But if you have some, decant 10+hours next time
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Notes from day 2. N black fruits, lavender, forest floor P blackberry, plum, olive, minerals, slight pepper F long in length, really high acid and tannin at this point Overall a really nice wine but really needs time right now.
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The ‘13 John Lewis displayed a gorgeous bouquet of crushed blackberry, violet floral tones, saline-minerality, and hints of undergrowth. On the palate, I found lifted, silky textures with pepper-infused black fruits, zesty acidity and saturating mineral tones. It was remarkably pretty with its inner floral tones and lingering black fruit finish.
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HdR Farewll BBQ (Hospice du Rhone): I was hoping to get another chance at this. I opened the bottle and took a pour and it was lacking. A few minutes later, TCA showed up and that was that. Obviously can't judge the wine based on this. It happens.
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HdR Seminar #2: Washington Wines: I wanted to like this one more, but I think its more stylistic. I did enjoy it, but it is really not my favorite style of wine. Purple/ruby in color with some dark brown notes. Very nice nose with black raspberries, herbs, roasted herbs and slight black olives. Thinner in texture (I assume due to lower alcohol). Black cherries on the palate with firm tannins coming out with air. There is a sort of moldy grass note on the finish which I did not like. This is a wine though that seemed like the whole is less than the sum of its parts. Especially with lower alcohol Syrahs, I find that they need time to integrate so there is plenty of potential here. And of course, others liked it more.
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Decanted all day and drank half day 1 and other half day 2. Needs longer in bottle. Medium bodies with bright red fruit, tart cherry, tobacco, pepper, and faint meatiness. Would never have guessed Washington. Drinks like a young Delas Hermitage.
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2/9/2024 - 3daywinereview.com wrote: 94 Points
Day 1: Savory wine with minerals, soy, white pepper, red currants, green olives and tar. Super complex wine and medium plus finish. Outstanding 2nd bottle. Drink now to 2028. 94 points
Day 2: Rocks funky with minerals, green olives, white pepper, roasted meats and crushed stones. Complex and this will drink well through 2030. 94 points
Recommendation: Get some.
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11/1/2023 - 3daywinereview.com wrote: 95 Points
Day 1: Beautiful wine featuring smoked meats, cranberry, dust, minerals, spices, white pepper and floral notes. When you look at a wine like this and think some pay over $100 plus for this quality, I personally love Walla Walla even more. Top 10 wine of the year for sure. 95 points
Day 2: Excellent on day 2 with smoked meats, minerals, cherry, dust, white pepper, floral, crushed rock and peppercorn. Medium plus finish. Outstanding wine. 95 points
Day 3: More elegant and still singing. Minerals, white pepper, gravel, dark fruits, crush rock, dried flowers and black olives. Medium plus finish and nice acidity. 94 points
Recommendation: This is an amazing wine and these are available still on various auctions and under $50 win!
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10/2/2023 - Pedroel Likes this wine: 93 Points
Last of four. It keeps getting better every year. Will push out the starting drink date for younger vintages.
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7/26/2023 - mojotojo Likes this wine: 92 Points
Not going to provide a long review here as we consumed this puppy out of plastic cups in a Hyatt while watching the Women's World Cup soccer game. Even in less-than-ideal conditions, the velvety texture, smoky-spicy-floral yumminess was evident. It went down well. The US team won. All good.
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1/25/2022 - rrscellar Likes this wine: 90 Points
Super round mouthfeel. We’ll integrated. Medium length finish. I’d say drink up, this feels at its peak.
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5/21/2021 - ploher wrote:
Black olives jump right out of the glass, supported by beautiful notes of flowers, pepper and raw meat; very good intensity on the nose here, just a beautiful bouquet. The palate is even more stunning with impressive mid palate persistance, beautiful, deep flavors of meat, smoked bacon, fat and again those black olives as a constant factor here. Despite the quite low acidity it's fresh, lifted and cool. The tannins are there of course, but well integrated. The finish is peppery and offers a great balance of complex flavors, it's just slightly short. All in all a stunning, very polished Syrah though. Really beautiful. 18.5/20
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5/1/2021 - budosyu wrote: 85 Points
Medium purplish red rim, no bricking. Initially bubblegum grape with hints of game and pepper. After about an hour, the carbonic/grapey flavors dissipated and revealed more ripe black fruits, spices, smoked game, mineral and peppery notes. On the palate, similar initially but mid palate with significant bitterness of leftover coffee grinds that lingered through the finish and dominated the other flavors. Good acidity and tannins not particularly dry. Bitterness maybe slightly more tolerable after a couple hours of air but still problematic.
Hate to be the outlier here, but disappointing on the palate compared to the nose. The off balance bitterness starting from the midpalate unfortunately ruins the wine. I believe this is made with whole clusters. Feels like however this wine was fermented with stems ruined this wine (overextraction?) -- suffers from the extremes of grapey/carbonic flavors and unbalanced bitterness that destroys the finish. Didn't get better with air. Provenance was good. Not in a dumb phase.
Unfortunately not worth the price. My search for moderately priced alternatives for northern Rhone in the new world continues without much success.
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4/29/2021 - RichardP wrote: 92 Points
Earth and blackberry on the nose. On the palate, black cherry, blackberry, plum, and notes of olive tapenade and bitter ash on the medium to long finish, with moderate tannins and strong acidity. This was a very good to excellent value at about $60.
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10/30/2020 - bularry Likes this wine: 92 Points
A serious wine. Impeccable structure and precision. beautiful over several hours.
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9/7/2020 - Janstan wrote: 83 Points
Never opened to reveal fruit, even on day 2. May be a bad bottle but I don’t think 12 more years of aging would produce a nice bottle. Maybe in a “dumb” stage.
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9/2/2019 - Motz wrote: 96 Points
Enjoyed over an evening with friends. Savory, pepper, coal, ash, peat bog, and smoke throughout. Exceptional balance of fruit, substance, and oak. Wholly integrated alcohol (13.3). If blind, my guess would be ripe vintage, north Rhone Syrah, especially Cote-Rotie, or perhaps Cornas. Very young; it should evolve over the next seven to ten years with ease. World class Syrah! 96-97.
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3/8/2019 - Ms. Bubblehead wrote:
Not bad for a new world Syrah, showed little resemblance to the Northen Rhône wine that Greg wants to offer from his wine, due to the sweeter tannin and more jammy fruits, but quite mineral and good spices on the finish, fruits were jammy but not overpowering, pretty nice for a new world Syrah.
Greg Harrington passed Master Sommeliers’ Examination in early 2000s. His first vintage of Gramercy Cellars was in 2005. He aims to make his wines closer to Hermitage or Côte-Rôtie. John Lewis is his top wine. He uses 100 percent whole clusters and ages the wine in large, used French oak barrels for 18 months.
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1/1/2019 - MichielV wrote: 92 Points
Again Helen opened by accident for a late night drink. We had the rest with salmon two days later. VERY good and a lot of fun to drink this can handle somemore time in the basement but fruit is pretty well integrated, i just think that the wine was a bit closed. Yummy though and clearly great product!!.
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1/12/2018 - SlimShaney wrote: 90 Points
Very Rhone. Initially too funky. Give it an hour to let the funk out. Then very ripe - sun dried. Very Rotie.
Whilst it's the same grape (allegedly) I love Shiraz (powerful, rich) and almost loathe Syrah (identity crisis of shiraz).
This is very 'artisinal'. Quite pretty. Almost a hint of strawberry pinot at times. But I' rather drink pinot. Or Shiraz. Or maybe even them blended together. Now that's rare.
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3/4/2017 - alaskanick wrote: 90 Points
Good effort but we hated it the first day.
Gramercy Day 2 update:
Medium bodied, very woody, almost like birch bark. Vanilla and boysenberries.
Much better today, but not sure I'd buy it again at this price point. But if you have some, decant 10+hours next time
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1/29/2017 - manonthemoon wrote: 93 Points
Notes from day 2.
N black fruits, lavender, forest floor
P blackberry, plum, olive, minerals, slight pepper
F long in length, really high acid and tannin at this point
Overall a really nice wine but really needs time right now.
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10/23/2016 - MichielV wrote: 91 Points
Helen opened by accident. This is very good stuff and will live a long time. Great length and balance!
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8/13/2016 - Eric Guido Likes this wine: 93 Points
The ‘13 John Lewis displayed a gorgeous bouquet of crushed blackberry, violet floral tones, saline-minerality, and hints of undergrowth. On the palate, I found lifted, silky textures with pepper-infused black fruits, zesty acidity and saturating mineral tones. It was remarkably pretty with its inner floral tones and lingering black fruit finish.
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4/19/2016 - Loren Sonkin wrote: flawed
HdR Farewll BBQ (Hospice du Rhone): I was hoping to get another chance at this. I opened the bottle and took a pour and it was lacking. A few minutes later, TCA showed up and that was that. Obviously can't judge the wine based on this. It happens.
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4/18/2016 - Loren Sonkin wrote: 89 Points
HdR Seminar #2: Washington Wines: I wanted to like this one more, but I think its more stylistic. I did enjoy it, but it is really not my favorite style of wine. Purple/ruby in color with some dark brown notes. Very nice nose with black raspberries, herbs, roasted herbs and slight black olives. Thinner in texture (I assume due to lower alcohol). Black cherries on the palate with firm tannins coming out with air. There is a sort of moldy grass note on the finish which I did not like. This is a wine though that seemed like the whole is less than the sum of its parts. Especially with lower alcohol Syrahs, I find that they need time to integrate so there is plenty of potential here. And of course, others liked it more.
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2/28/2016 - MAXIMUM SATISFACTION wrote: 93 Points
Decanted all day and drank half day 1 and other half day 2. Needs longer in bottle. Medium bodies with bright red fruit, tart cherry, tobacco, pepper, and faint meatiness. Would never have guessed Washington. Drinks like a young Delas Hermitage.
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