2016 Gramercy Cellars Syrah John Lewis Reserve

Community Tasting Notes (11) Avg Score: 92.3 points

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  4/9/2024 - Jabulani Likes this wine: 92 Points

  Very elegant, restrained, surprising wine. Initially a hint of Brett, but this was subsumed as the rest of the wine rose to the fore. Dark fruit character, complex and serious, a hint of sour cherry and charcoal. Very fine indeed.

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  10/1/2023 - StefanAkiko Likes this wine: 86 Points

  Got two bottles on auction at non-hyped semi-bargain price in Japan.
  
  After plop, it behaved like a very young Syrah with a bit more perfymey aromas than usual in classic Rhône wines. The high acidity is akin to something only rarely seen in the Rhône Valley. The low tannins didn't make this wine a happy experience...
  
  Even if this wine, today, is an acidic prick, it nevertheless married the salad thanks to the acidic tomatoes and the WA-FUU dressing (onion-based with rice vinegar). At the end of the dinner, I found it to have started to unfold its wings.
  
  86 today, but with potential to break the 90-wall.
  
  One more btl to go and I think that in 10 year's time it's either DEAD or a fantastic drinking experience. The remaining bottle, I hid away in the darkest corner of my mancave.

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  7/20/2023 - CabinConnoisseur Likes this wine: 91 Points

  I visited Walla Walla in May of 2021 and this was the best wine I tasted from any Winery I visited, although I did not stray far from the town. I think the wine was better then than it is right now, although I expect the wine will improve again with more age. On the palate, pomegranate dominates on the attack and throughout the reasonably long finish. I recall more foundational, darker, deep fruit flavors from my tasting 2 years ago, and those flavors provided a strong base for the sharper pomegranate to rise from and offer counterpoint. If I am right, that foundation will re-emerge, and the resulting balance will improve the score back to the 92-93 range. If I am wrong, I should be consuming my case ASAP.
  
  Enjoyable now, but save some for later.

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  12/25/2022 - lgomberg wrote: 88 Points

  Notes after two hours of being uncorked. 12,8 abv. With SRF zabutan. Dark ruby, opaque . Pretty aromatics dark orchard and subtle brambly fruit, manzanita, earth, whole cluster spice, palate was consistent, neutral oak, integrated tannins, yet anemic in intensity. Medium minus finish. Expected more for the price point. Picked too early?

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  3/25/2022 - The Drunken Cyclist Likes this wine: 96 Points

  Retail $85. 85% Whole Cluster. A barrel selection of the three top vineyards associated with Gramercy: Forgotten Hills, Red Willow, and Les Collines (Block 46), and winemaker Greg Harrington proclaimed this 2016 to be perhaps his favorite wine he's made at Gramercy. And who am I to argue? Whoa. Lovely nose punctuated by that woody, flinty whole cluster aspect. Black raspberry, black pepper, clove. Yowza. Rich, luscious fruit. Really gorgeous fruit. Whoa. But far from being a fruit bomb, this is still decidedly Old World in attitude with healthy amounts of acidity and verve. Outstanding.
  
  www.thedrunkencyclist.com

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View all 11 Community Tasting Notes

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