Conrad Green

9.0

Very intense pure fruit. Plum, pencil lead, iron. High in flavor and alcohol. Punchy. — a month ago

with Jonathan, Paul and 1 other

Willem Booij

9.6

20 years young VP, what a iron fist in a velvet glove. Love it! — a year ago

Will Stanley

9.5

Just rock-solid Châteauneuf, this is exemplary and for me personally my exact sweet-spot in terms of the varied styles from this region. The nose takes a little coaxing, but has a great yin / yang profile of pure, fresh blue fruit, liquorice, violets, and garrigue, versus seared meat, iron and loamy earth. This all puts it square in the middle of the ‘old’ and ‘new’ schools, broadly speaking, and it’s a wine that has the best of both worlds as a result.

The palate is huge, an iron fist in a glove of velvet and so much more, but in no way imbalanced or over-extracted - not overtly alcoholic, at a modest 14%. It spreads out in waves across the palate, ripples which are felt long after the finish. This is clearly a baby now, but it drinks well and will see its 20th birthday in damn fine fettle. Excited to have a case in the cellar.

Decanting not required nor recommended. — 2 years ago

LM Segal

9.5

Sublime. Iron fist, velvet glove and all that. Beyond doubt that this cuvée rocks when Capo not made. Decant briefly and sip away slowly. — 4 years ago

Conrad Green

9.2

Fresh and sweet. Plum and iron. Lucid and not too hot — a month ago

with Jonathan, Paul and 1 other

Shay A

9.4

Forgot I opened one of these earlier in the year. Whoops. Wish I had more.

Hour decant, then consumed from decanter over the next 3hrs.

My note here is fairly similar to the 2014 note, but there is more concentration and power going on. Dark purple in the glass, with aromatics of both sweet oak as well as a kiss of whole cluster stem inclusion. Loads of dark floral notes, ripe blackberries, and smoked jerky. Large-scaled mid palate depth and richness of blue and black fruits with plenty of herbal flair and spice but it’s more iron fist in a velvet glove style. There’s black peppercorn and iron, as well as big central coast Rhône style with its rich and textural palate.

I love Syrah in all expressions. It’s natural to compare these wines to SQN (and Andremily), and rightly so. These are dialed up to 9, but pull back, whereas the others aren’t afraid of going to 11. No right/wrong answer, just style preference. I happen to love both. — a year ago

Jakub Kalinowski

9.2

Dark, brooding, almost fruitless. Deep and yet fresh.
Classic Bandol on the nose with leather, spices, garrigue, roast, dried mint and just barely a hint of dark, ripe, creamy blueberries & cassis.
On the palate this is supple, mid-weight, rich with pronounced yet so finely polished tannins. Juicy & fresh, poised and with great depth. A iron fist in a velvet glove.
Surprisingly accessible right after opening yet gains complexity & depth with time. A brilliant food wine! And great value, too!
Love it!! — 2 years ago

Daniel M

9.0

After the Sicilian off dry white which I drank only a glass of in disappointment, I decided to open something I knew would make me happy. We are watching Dunkirk while drinking this wine and the contrast between the on-screen drama and the funky liveliness in the glass is stunning!
As usual the nose is a bit funky at fist and takes a good 20 to 30 minutes to set into place. Then it's violet, blueberry, clay, that iron thing too, which I always smell in this cuvée, no matter the vintage. The palate is big, bright and fruity. There are blueberry notes all along, some cherry too. Some width, a nice and soft mouthfeel, some tannins in the rear, and a really nice anf long finish with fruits, some pepper, and a nice tannic layer. There is a subtle savory note too, almost meaty, that makes it more complex than you would have bet at first. Of course this is, as always, a very biased review, but I mean, what's not to like there? — 10 months ago

Ira Schwartz

9.6

Get out the thesaurus because I do not have enough adjectives to describe this wine. A similar wine to Rayas in that both wines share characteristics, which if you are being blinded, leads you to Burgundy. Has that wonderful iron fist in a velvet glove texture. Wonderful florals, and red fruit, soar out the glass like a SpaceX launch. In the mouth, the telltale structure that all great wines have. On the palate, waves of complex fruit, earth and perfectly judged acid and tannins caress your taste buds. A long layered finish that will have you shaking your head. A big thank you to the sommeliers . — a year ago

Adam Gäfvert

9.7

Very attractive and complex aromas. Liquorice, black tea, incense, cherry, rose petals, tar. There is no velvet glove around this iron fist. Full bodied, very tannic. Great finish. — 3 years ago