A beautiful, inky syrah with a complex and savory nose, a meaty, dark berry, full-bodied palate undergirded by some telltale briny black olive. This is an old world Rhone with some bombastic new world stylistic influence. Still has years left to cellar but in a great place right now.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
One hour of air to start and it really needed more. At first fairly forbidding tannins over dark berries, vanilla, brambles, roast pork. Over another hour it softened and deepened considerably, with cherry coming out. Not much of the anise that the copy on the back label suggests. This wine really grew on me over time and with enough air. Decanting is not obligatory but is not a bad idea after my experience. Score: 92. Relative to expectations:+
Addendum: after having just had the Abelard with 2.5 hrs decant I think decanting is essential and I missed out on a lot of what this wine had by not doing that. Going to add a point to reflect my conviction now that I screwed this up.
Score : 93.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Really came together nicely after being opened for about 1 hour. Balanced fruit, a lot of herb notes, some fine spice towards the finish. A nice rhone wine, drinks well at the moment.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Professional reviews have copyrights and you can view them here for your personal use only as private content. To view pro reviews you must either subscribe to a pre-integrated publication or manually enter reviews below. Learn more.
9/27/2023 - Stufts Likes this wine: 94 Points
A beautiful, inky syrah with a complex and savory nose, a meaty, dark berry, full-bodied palate undergirded by some telltale briny black olive. This is an old world Rhone with some bombastic new world stylistic influence. Still has years left to cellar but in a great place right now.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/14/2021 - JJYoyo Likes this wine: 93 Points
One hour of air to start and it really needed more. At first fairly forbidding tannins over dark berries, vanilla, brambles, roast pork. Over another hour it softened and deepened considerably, with cherry coming out. Not much of the anise that the copy on the back label suggests.
This wine really grew on me over time and with enough air. Decanting is not obligatory but is not a bad idea after my experience.
Score: 92. Relative to expectations:+
Addendum: after having just had the Abelard with 2.5 hrs decant I think decanting is essential and I missed out on a lot of what this wine had by not doing that. Going to add a point to reflect my conviction now that I screwed this up.
Score : 93.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
5/17/2020 - Workbench Likes this wine: 92 Points
Great drinker, smooth and balanced.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
5/23/2019 - dinwiddie Likes this wine: 91 Points
Tasted at the winery. Wonderful nose and long finish.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
3/13/2019 - SonnyChiba wrote: 92 Points
Really came together nicely after being opened for about 1 hour. Balanced fruit, a lot of herb notes, some fine spice towards the finish. A nice rhone wine, drinks well at the moment.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment