Drinking beautiful now. Have aged nicely with rounded tannin. Notes of leather, tea, spices, earth, cooked black fruits. Medium acidity and medium+ tannin. Medium+ finish.
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Syrah Night @ East Coast!!: 2nd bottle I opened tonight - Red fruits, boysenberry, tea, earth, soil, dried leaves, with a slight library funk. This has aged really well and the bottle has been well kept. Great linearity and structure. So this is what the old PJAs are about! WOTN for me! Open up before it is too late. 93/94
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PnP. Funky aromas that eventually subsided to reveal smoky roasted meats, dark berries and some earth. Palate was better with dark berries, earth, roasted meats, herbs, pepper and a hint of olives. Finishes with fruit and a lot of green herbs. The palate is a tad dilute from beginning to end but otherwise a really nice wine. 91+
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$375 off the list at Bern's. Decanted. Opens with a nice barnyard funk, along with a mix of red and dark fruit, peppery spice and roasted game. Love the meaty syrah notes here. The red berry fruit dominates the palate, with hints of spice on the finish. Integrated and nicely balanced. Drank really nicely for a good hour or so before developing a more pronounced vegetal quality. All four of us were in the 92-93 range on this.
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Almost 14 years since I last tasted this. Fully mature garnet colour, almost entirely bricked through; mature and vinous nose, wood and roasted chestnuts, vestiges of red berry fruit, smoke and fresh mushrooms, warm and with good depth; the palate is remarkably lively and fresh, with solid tannins carrying it along, fully mature but still juicy, lively and harmonious, hint of nuttiness in the flavours but certainly not overripe; decent to good length. An old wine but also a worthy survivor from a middling vintage after 34 years.
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A Foray to the N. Rhone: Cote Rotie, Misc Hermitage and a La Chapelle vertical (Dino's Restaurant): Chris B graciously brought a mystery vintage La Chapelle to compliment the stunning 97 he brought. What was funny was he did not know the vintage either, as his metal wine racking had effectively scraped the year off of the bottle! A true blind, this wine did not disappoint. Clearly much older, as it was advanced in color and nose. The wine had such a beautiful nose of earthy morel and hen of the wood mushrooms. Absolutely exquisite. Furthermore, while the palate was very delicate, it still had a hallmark purity and richness to its fruit which I find in aged wines from seminal vineyards. It reminded me of a shockingly wonderful 81 Pichon Lalande recently tasted. Given its appearance, I stabbed a guess at late 70s or early 80s and Chris confirms that he believes it to be either 79,80 or 81. A superb wine and to me indicative of the true potency of the terroir. WOTN for me. Thanks again Chris.
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Light colour with substantial bricking; lovely, soft and feminine style, beautifully balanced and fragrant, rosehip and spice, lovely definition, transparent, good composition, harmonious.
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2/18/2024 - Sean Tay wrote: 93 Points
Drinking beautiful now. Have aged nicely with rounded tannin. Notes of leather, tea, spices, earth, cooked black fruits. Medium acidity and medium+ tannin. Medium+ finish.
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9/12/2020 - dnnk88 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Syrah Night @ East Coast!!: 2nd bottle I opened tonight - Red fruits, boysenberry, tea, earth, soil, dried leaves, with a slight library funk. This has aged really well and the bottle has been well kept. Great linearity and structure. So this is what the old PJAs are about! WOTN for me! Open up before it is too late. 93/94
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7/13/2019 - James Kim Likes this wine: 91 Points
PnP. Funky aromas that eventually subsided to reveal smoky roasted meats, dark berries and some earth. Palate was better with dark berries, earth, roasted meats, herbs, pepper and a hint of olives. Finishes with fruit and a lot of green herbs. The palate is a tad dilute from beginning to end but otherwise a really nice wine. 91+
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9/1/2018 - knothoef wrote: 87 Points
old, but still very full
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4/26/2018 - AllRed wrote: 92 Points
$375 off the list at Bern's. Decanted. Opens with a nice barnyard funk, along with a mix of red and dark fruit, peppery spice and roasted game. Love the meaty syrah notes here. The red berry fruit dominates the palate, with hints of spice on the finish. Integrated and nicely balanced. Drank really nicely for a good hour or so before developing a more pronounced vegetal quality. All four of us were in the 92-93 range on this.
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8/23/2015 - Xavier Auerbach wrote: 90 Points
Almost 14 years since I last tasted this. Fully mature garnet colour, almost entirely bricked through; mature and vinous nose, wood and roasted chestnuts, vestiges of red berry fruit, smoke and fresh mushrooms, warm and with good depth; the palate is remarkably lively and fresh, with solid tannins carrying it along, fully mature but still juicy, lively and harmonious, hint of nuttiness in the flavours but certainly not overripe; decent to good length. An old wine but also a worthy survivor from a middling vintage after 34 years.
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5/11/2010 - Rupert wrote: 89 Points
Hermitage La Chapelle - complete vertical 1961-2005 (Institute of Directors, London): A good fresh leafy syrah, iodine, cedar, lean, and a bit raw in places - good in parts
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3/11/2010 - Faryan wrote: 95 Points
A Foray to the N. Rhone: Cote Rotie, Misc Hermitage and a La Chapelle vertical (Dino's Restaurant): Chris B graciously brought a mystery vintage La Chapelle to compliment the stunning 97 he brought. What was funny was he did not know the vintage either, as his metal wine racking had effectively scraped the year off of the bottle! A true blind, this wine did not disappoint. Clearly much older, as it was advanced in color and nose. The wine had such a beautiful nose of earthy morel and hen of the wood mushrooms. Absolutely exquisite. Furthermore, while the palate was very delicate, it still had a hallmark purity and richness to its fruit which I find in aged wines from seminal vineyards. It reminded me of a shockingly wonderful 81 Pichon Lalande recently tasted. Given its appearance, I stabbed a guess at late 70s or early 80s and Chris confirms that he believes it to be either 79,80 or 81. A superb wine and to me indicative of the true potency of the terroir. WOTN for me. Thanks again Chris.
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12/8/2001 - Xavier Auerbach wrote: 90 Points
Light colour with substantial bricking; lovely, soft and feminine style, beautifully balanced and fragrant, rosehip and spice, lovely definition, transparent, good composition, harmonious.
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