Only produced in top vintages (this is the first since 2012), the 2015 Cornas Vieilles Fontaines comes from 80-year-old vines within the La Fontaine lieu-dit. It's a tough wine to evaluate at this stage, as it's quite... Read More
The second release from Andremily's Jim Binns, the No 2 is an utterly profound blend of 85% Syrah, 11% Mourvèdre and 4% Viognier that saw a touch of whole cluster fermentation and 23 months in 62% new French oak barrels. Its... Read More
The limited cuvee from the Cote Brune, the 1999 Cote Rotie La Landonne (250 cases) is prodigious. Readers lucky enough to track down a bottle or two will own a legend in the making. However, 8-9 years of cellaring are required... Read More
The star of the show is the 2012 Hermitage Les Bessards. Coming from the pure granite soils of the Les Bessards lieu-dit, on the western edge of the appellation, it's made from 100% Syrah and spent 16 months in 70% new French... Read More
The 2011 Syrah Richard's Family is a powerful, rich wine that spent 36 months in wood. It boasts lots of blackberry, black currant, licorice, forest floor and truffle-like notes. Opulent and full-bodied, it is an incredible... Read More
Concentrated as well as aromatic, the 2001 Cote Rotie offers up scents of wild game, roasted meats, animal fur, berry fruit, and mountain flowers. Full-bodied, thick, concentrated, and tannic, it cuts a broad swath across the... Read More
From a low-yield, hot-summer vintage, this full-bodied Syrah is still very young and tough, with a plummy, ripe character, chalk, mineral and leather notes and excellent concentration. The tannins are beginning to integrate nicely,... Read More
What a great wine. Full-bodied, with crushed berry, smoke and grilled aromas, all presented quite subtly. Stands out for its natural, down-to-earth taste of clean, pure, shining fruit. A pleasure to drink. Tempting now. Best from... Read More
From a vintage that produced classic, structured and focused reds, the 1995 Côte Rôtie Côte Blonde came from miniscule yields of 18 hectoliters and offers a gorgeous bouquet of sweet dark fruits, tobacco leaf, olive tapenade and... Read More
The 2005 Syrah The 17th Nail In My Cranium, a blend of 96.5% Syrah and 3.5% Viognier which is aged 38 months prior to bottling. (I always wonder what Marcel Guigal would think of a wine like this which seems to tip its hat in... Read More
The 2008 Syrah B-20 is a cool, inward wine graced with layers of beautifully delineated, chiseled fruit. This is a distinctly mineral, precise style relative to the more outgoing 2009, but both are striking. Floral notes add lift... Read More
The 2014 Syrah Capo dei Putti saw an amazing 38 months in fully 94% new oak, and it was showing superbly when I tasted it, unfurling in the glass with brooding aromas of blackberry preserve, cherries, bay leaf and a remarkably... Read More
Still in barrel, the 2020 Syrah Distenta 11 is a blend of 82.9% Syrah, 7.5% Grenache, 3.9% Mourvèdre, 3.4% Petite Sirah and 2.3% white (1.5% Muskat and 0.8% Petit Manseng, to be precise). It comes entirely from estate vineyards:... Read More
The 2000 In Flagrante (a 725-case blend of 86% Syrah, 10% Grenache, and 4% Viognier) is a world-class, provocative effort. It reveals many of the same aromatic and flavor components found in the 2001 Midnight Oil and 2002 Syrah-dominated,... Read More