Wow, this was awesome. I've loved what other producers (Copain, Rhys/Alesia) have done with fruit from this vineyard but this is the first time I've tried the Halcon version. Ringer for a Northern Rhone (maybe stylistically closest to Cornas or Hermitage) with abundant granite, smoke and game meat flavors. Good freshness and acidity keep it interesting.
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This feels much more open vs the 2018 a year ago. Lots of old school Syrah character - black olive, herbs de Provence, plum, violets. Medium acidity and a long finish. Really quite complex and wouldn’t be about of place among St Joseph’s and Cornas bottlings at 2-3x the price. Outstanding stuff.
Really, really good. Just explodes in the glass…and on the palate there’s a great combo of savory notes and CA fruit. I agree that there’s still a youthful green note—we’ll see if that dissipates over time.
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Unfortunately, this 3rd bottle of the '19 Halcon Elevacion did not live up to the prior two. One difference is this bottle came on a "close-out" from an online shop, vs. the other bottles direct from the winery. I couldn't say this was a factor, but the wine was less balanced, showing less depth of fruit, and it was not able to hide the harsh tannins (mainly for preceding reasons), making for an overall less pleasurable tasting experience. So, while this last bottle dropped a notch in my estimation, it was still quite good, better still with food. I certainly did find the bottle in need of time to settle whereas previous, while certain to be long lived, were more than delightful taking part in there infanticidal ritual. I was excited to juxtapose this wine to the excellent (and dare I write peerless for its realm) Drew Perli from the '18 vintage from the other night, but this bottle did not not provide for a well-matched comparison. In any event, I have no less than 15 more bottles of this wine to ponder on and investigate over the coming decades.
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3/13/2024 - GrapeScott wrote: 93 Points
Wow, this was awesome. I've loved what other producers (Copain, Rhys/Alesia) have done with fruit from this vineyard but this is the first time I've tried the Halcon version. Ringer for a Northern Rhone (maybe stylistically closest to Cornas or Hermitage) with abundant granite, smoke and game meat flavors. Good freshness and acidity keep it interesting.
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3/10/2024 - HFLED Likes this wine: 93 Points
This feels much more open vs the 2018 a year ago. Lots of old school Syrah character - black olive, herbs de Provence, plum, violets. Medium acidity and a long finish. Really quite complex and wouldn’t be about of place among St Joseph’s and Cornas bottlings at 2-3x the price. Outstanding stuff.
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10/1/2023 - smorris291 wrote: 93 Points
Consistent with bottle 1, maybe a bit more savory. Really delicious.
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6/1/2023 - smorris291 wrote: 92 Points
Really, really good. Just explodes in the glass…and on the palate there’s a great combo of savory notes and CA fruit. I agree that there’s still a youthful green note—we’ll see if that dissipates over time.
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9/26/2022 - z_willus_d wrote: 89 Points
Unfortunately, this 3rd bottle of the '19 Halcon Elevacion did not live up to the prior two. One difference is this bottle came on a "close-out" from an online shop, vs. the other bottles direct from the winery. I couldn't say this was a factor, but the wine was less balanced, showing less depth of fruit, and it was not able to hide the harsh tannins (mainly for preceding reasons), making for an overall less pleasurable tasting experience. So, while this last bottle dropped a notch in my estimation, it was still quite good, better still with food. I certainly did find the bottle in need of time to settle whereas previous, while certain to be long lived, were more than delightful taking part in there infanticidal ritual. I was excited to juxtapose this wine to the excellent (and dare I write peerless for its realm) Drew Perli from the '18 vintage from the other night, but this bottle did not not provide for a well-matched comparison. In any event, I have no less than 15 more bottles of this wine to ponder on and investigate over the coming decades.
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