Decanted for approximately three hours, which seemed to yield good results considering how impatient I was to crack the cap on this bottle and see what all the fuss was about.
I’m in the silky and sheeny camp on this one, and did not experience it as necessarily bold or burly as others here on CT have expressed. The finessed structure here is firm and youthfully postured, but exquisitely contoured and polished. It finishes almost plush and flowing, but with solid focus and completeness in its delivery of primary purpley-red fruit flavor. I didn’t sense the cluster influence, at least not in the stemmy or woody way that can often accompany such an inclusion. The sense of firewater was mild to nonexistent as well; no distracting heat for me. Instead, it was mostly a smooth jazz and snapping fingers/coffee shop spoken word kinda vibe.
The curvature of the execution is really where this thing is already hitting its high notes, easing the overall perception of juvenility and leaving one with the intellectual acknowledgment of a young wine but with the overall feeling of a wine that ingratiates, even despite being a young pup. Some short term cellaring will give it the confidence it needs to squeeze out a few more follicles on its artistic beard scruff and scribble up some more super boss hipster verses for its poetry slam debut in 2027.
Welcome home pt. 2 (FermentedBeast's Lair): Aromas are more brooding compared to the White Hawk, with dark purple and black fruits with a piercing prickliness. Aromatic earth and flowers with strong support of dark fruits. Some red flowers with little streaks of purple in its petals as well.
The palate displayed dark fruits, a nice streak of graphite that gives it a sense of “danger”, providing for some excitement. Dried bitter oak and trailing minerals on the finish.
This is a bit darker, more rough and rugged than its sibling from White Hawk. This is the one that's been through some stuff, where you would sit down and have a drink with, and tell each other stories.
2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Smooth as a baby's butt. Only was able to give it an hour and half of air - drank over 2 hours and it continued to improve. So I recommend either a long decant of wait a while longer on this wine. This Syrah is excellent. Big but oh so smooth with a haunting finish. Woke up the next day thinking about this wine - it was that good.
Men who wine Australian wine dinner at Nos Cave Vin.
A fun addition to the table considering Nigel is a Australian winemaker. My friends intention was to grab the Chenin Blanc but this was grabbed on accident so I got to experience this wine earlier than I would have personally pulled.
I felt like this wine is more on the softer more feminine side of Syrah. Silky mouth feel with a lot of length. Not sure how Nigel pulled this off but this wine is beautiful expression of this vineyard.
In reading others notes it seems as if there is a decent amount of variation depending upon length of decant and bottle. This was splash decanted table side and consumed over two hours.
Whoa. I was expecting something much lighter and food-friendly based on the winemaker description, but I’m far more in favor of VM review: this is big, bold, dark and savory, high octane with an alcohol to go with it. You could drink it early but there’s a lot of upside to letting it rest for at least some short term cellaring.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
I suspect an off bottle. Drank over dinner at Sol Bar in Napa and shared with the sommelier. Everyone agreed that this didn’t taste like much, was flimsy, muted. Didn’t taste like syrah and didn’t have any of Nigel’s characteristics. Bummer!
Bottle shock be damned, I opened this immediately. For those familiar with the bottled up beasts known as Kinsman, rest assured this definitely doesn't fall into that territory. PnP and while it certainly can use some air, it's fully approachable. The most striking thing about this wine is the energy and building length. It's got good depth, but not mind numbing power, and I find it incredibly enjoyable to drink as it displays crisp acidity, a wonderful flavor profile that vacillates between fruit, savory and meaty while consistently driving the palate towards a long and mineral driven finish. Great effort, as expected!
Little Day 2 update for those that care: The tannins have come out to play today, clamping down fairly hard. The profile is way meatier, the concentration has really picked up and the finish is more massive. All in all, just proving how well made these wines are and the long life ahead. Man, that finish...
11/27/2023 - csimm wrote: 95 Points
Decanted for approximately three hours, which seemed to yield good results considering how impatient I was to crack the cap on this bottle and see what all the fuss was about.
I’m in the silky and sheeny camp on this one, and did not experience it as necessarily bold or burly as others here on CT have expressed. The finessed structure here is firm and youthfully postured, but exquisitely contoured and polished. It finishes almost plush and flowing, but with solid focus and completeness in its delivery of primary purpley-red fruit flavor. I didn’t sense the cluster influence, at least not in the stemmy or woody way that can often accompany such an inclusion. The sense of firewater was mild to nonexistent as well; no distracting heat for me. Instead, it was mostly a smooth jazz and snapping fingers/coffee shop spoken word kinda vibe.
The curvature of the execution is really where this thing is already hitting its high notes, easing the overall perception of juvenility and leaving one with the intellectual acknowledgment of a young wine but with the overall feeling of a wine that ingratiates, even despite being a young pup. Some short term cellaring will give it the confidence it needs to squeeze out a few more follicles on its artistic beard scruff and scribble up some more super boss hipster verses for its poetry slam debut in 2027.
5 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comments (3)
9/3/2023 - WineBurrowingWombat Likes this wine: 96 Points
Welcome home pt. 2 (FermentedBeast's Lair): Aromas are more brooding compared to the White Hawk, with dark purple and black fruits with a piercing prickliness. Aromatic earth and flowers with strong support of dark fruits. Some red flowers with little streaks of purple in its petals as well.
The palate displayed dark fruits, a nice streak of graphite that gives it a sense of “danger”, providing for some excitement. Dried bitter oak and trailing minerals on the finish.
This is a bit darker, more rough and rugged than its sibling from White Hawk. This is the one that's been through some stuff, where you would sit down and have a drink with, and tell each other stories.
2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
8/31/2023 - TastesGoodToMe Likes this wine: 95 Points
Smooth as a baby's butt. Only was able to give it an hour and half of air - drank over 2 hours and it continued to improve. So I recommend either a long decant of wait a while longer on this wine. This Syrah is excellent. Big but oh so smooth with a haunting finish. Woke up the next day thinking about this wine - it was that good.
2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comments (4)
8/19/2023 - MJP Hou TX Likes this wine:
Men who wine Australian wine dinner at Nos Cave Vin.
A fun addition to the table considering Nigel is a Australian winemaker. My friends intention was to grab the Chenin Blanc but this was grabbed on accident so I got to experience this wine earlier than I would have personally pulled.
I felt like this wine is more on the softer more feminine side of Syrah. Silky mouth feel with a lot of length. Not sure how Nigel pulled this off but this wine is beautiful expression of this vineyard.
In reading others notes it seems as if there is a decent amount of variation depending upon length of decant and bottle. This was splash decanted table side and consumed over two hours.
I'm super happy to have these in the cellar.
4 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comments (1)
7/2/2023 - BadOyster wrote: 92 Points
Whoa. I was expecting something much lighter and food-friendly based on the winemaker description, but I’m far more in favor of VM review: this is big, bold, dark and savory, high octane with an alcohol to go with it. You could drink it early but there’s a lot of upside to letting it rest for at least some short term cellaring.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
6/28/2023 - EM_MB wrote: flawed
I suspect an off bottle. Drank over dinner at Sol Bar in Napa and shared with the sommelier. Everyone agreed that this didn’t taste like much, was flimsy, muted. Didn’t taste like syrah and didn’t have any of Nigel’s characteristics. Bummer!
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comments (1)
5/3/2023 - Cristal2000 Likes this wine: 96 Points
Bottle shock be damned, I opened this immediately. For those familiar with the bottled up beasts known as Kinsman, rest assured this definitely doesn't fall into that territory. PnP and while it certainly can use some air, it's fully approachable. The most striking thing about this wine is the energy and building length. It's got good depth, but not mind numbing power, and I find it incredibly enjoyable to drink as it displays crisp acidity, a wonderful flavor profile that vacillates between fruit, savory and meaty while consistently driving the palate towards a long and mineral driven finish. Great effort, as expected!
Little Day 2 update for those that care: The tannins have come out to play today, clamping down fairly hard. The profile is way meatier, the concentration has really picked up and the finish is more massive. All in all, just proving how well made these wines are and the long life ahead. Man, that finish...
10 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comments (29)