Les Journaries Côte-Rôtie Syrah

The Northern Rhône example in our little, impromptu North/South face-off during Christmas Eve dinner. This is a European bottled version of “Les Journaries” which is labeled there as “La Maestria”. Most of the grapes are sourced from Levet’s holdings in La Landonne. The bottle was opened about two hours prior and probably would have benefitted from being opened two days prior in retrospect. That being said, this was stunning...and positively feral. Underbrush, herbs, brambles, flowers, meat, anise, and cinnamon bark on the nose and on the palate. As striking as this is right now, the best is yet to come and these will deliver even more joy in 10-15 years. These wines are a beautiful little secret. If you must, drink after a rather protracted decant otherwise stash these deep in the cellar. For those wondering, we paired a 2009 Domaine de Beaurenard “Boisrenard” as the Southern Rhône example which, while massively different in style, was stunning in its own right.

Floral & savory notes in perfect balance on the nose. Finessed palate with layers of dark fruit, brine & smoke. Tannins are moderate, but present. Rests beautifully between power & elegant freshness. Absolutely excellent.

Would love to get this and age it for a long time. Black pepper stood out amongst a lot.

Delish

Quite powerful still. Decant, pls. 🍕 🍕

Deliciously wild and funky. Deeply pitched smoky fruit but very fresh. Serious tannic structure to age but already showing tons of quality.

Flowers, funk, blood. Grippy tannin, fairly tight even with a few hours of air.

Unbelievable $50 wine. Highly aromatically lifted for a new wine. Lots of dark red toned fruit, mineral and acid. Really could reach 9.7

Gordon's northern Rhone tasting 9/20/16. Average of 60 yrs vine. Very small percentage destemmed. Nose of dark fruits and wet stones. Palate balanced and elegant even though tannins still high. Long finish of fruit and minerals. Yummy.

Just like its little sister, quite tannic, but shows great potential.