2018 Hors Catégorie Vineyards Syrah Hors Catégorie Vineyard
Prezzo di mercato
Opzioni di acquisto
Note di degustazione
Another impressive bottling for Hors Catégorie, the 2018 Syrah opens with a seductive and aromatic nose filled with smoked lavender, black raspberry skin, umami, hung meats, black olive, red and black peppercorn and spiced plum reduction. Medium to full-bodied, it explodes on the palate, revealing a generous profile with complexity, elegance and finesse. Flavors of turned earth, smoked cherry pie filling, spicy potpourri and worn leather sway across the mid-palate with impeccable balance that will remain a champion for almost two decades. The wine ends with a long, winding, expressive and complex finish that has me coming back for second and third helpings. This comes from a steep vineyard planted on a 60° slope that has been farmed with a biodynamic approach since its inception. Bravo, I want more! If you are lucky enough to find some of this wine, buy it! Only 1,800 bottles were made.
Punteggi della critica
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
Jeb Dunnuck
Altre recensioni e punteggi
As always, the 2018 Syrah turns the savory dial up to 11, offering an incredible array of smoked blackcurrants, blueberries, cured meats, shiitake mushroom, violets, and ground pepper-like aromas and flavors. Coming from two steep hillsides of broken basalt off the north fork of the Walla Walla River, I've often compared this cuvée to a wine from the Côte Brune side of Côte Rôtie, and that still holds, yet this certainly has its own style. Medium to full-bodied, pure, and layered on the palate, it has gorgeous tannins, flawless balance, and a great finish. There's nothing else in the world like it. Give bottles 2-4 years and enjoy over the following 15+.
Full, bright ruby-red. Deep, brooding yet remarkably complex nose offers blackberry, brown spices, violet, singed meat, crushed rock and licorice; as in past vintages, very Hermitage in style rather than salty Rocks. Wonderfully smooth, suave and dense on entry, with saline and smoky soil low tones but plenty of pungent, peppery dark berries and violet to provide lift. Very rich and deep, at once juicy and imploded and still extremely young, this beauty boasts seductive incipient sweetness. The very long, slowly mounting finish features serious but perfectly buffered tannins and palate-staining persistence. The star of the cellar in 2018, this wine conveys a lower-pH impression of energy than the Cayuse wines from the Rocks even if the technical numbers are in the same range. (Tasted June 2021; Published September 2021)