Cuvée Le Berceau St. Joseph Syrah

Drinking well now

What a smoke show! Completely different animal than LBT. Density, sinew, complex and savory perfume, length and balance given the ripeness. Open for business for sure. Chewy black cherry, plum, licorice, bacon fat, leather, garrigue, cured meat, tar, wood smoke, lavender pastille. Mouthfulling and rich, warm and heady, there’s some incredibly alluring barrel back notes but it’s deft and integrated. Great use of stems here, just enough to prop the wine up and add layers of spice.

Serious brett at first. Like stanky stable. But… lo and behold, a truly beautiful wine emerges after a few hrs. So traditional but rustic in an elegant way that defies words. Round, herbal, complex and lovely. Drinking so well now. 9.4… 9.5?

Deep Ruby with aromas of black berry fruits, herb, earthy spice and flinty notes. On the palate flavors of ripe blackberry and black cherry with notes of black pepper, earthy herbs and tobacco. Fine tannins, medium+ finish ending with fruit and mineral character.

Just stunning. Blackberry, violets, so so floral, earthy, mineral, saddle leather, meaty, so so good. Concentrated, inner mouth florals, grippy still but also starting to get to secondary. Long. Long. Stunning depth to the fruit on the backend. Amazing. Velvety tannins. Grippening up. So long and complex. Wonderful finesse. So good

Brutally young but why not? Nose of granite and tons of soil and dark informed black fruit. Really compelling mineral and such a sense of deepness. Man this is young. But awesome. As it opens, clay and floral, wet soil, man is this complex. Whirling. Palate is a beast but also so so refined and complex. Balance is terrific and the depth is Melville like. Herman that is. Dark pure fruit and wonderful acidity and freshness and a finish that does not quit. Wow. Superb concentration and tiny berry fruit intensity.

Day 2 notes as day 1 it was an end of the night open and it needed 24 hours to really show. Nose is all black fruits, tiny bit of horse, granite, meat, earth, herbs, licorice. Feral. Dense gamey olives as well. Complex aromas. Palate has insane freshness and purity. So clean and straight as an arrow with great acids blackberry fruit and complex stoniness on the finish. Compact, long and balanced. Way more upside here.

Seductive nose, red fruit and earth, refined tannins

I adore 2021. Insane wine. Nose is feral, herbal and gamey and so expressive for a young Berceau. Red fruits galore with unreal clarity and depth. Granite aromas but expressed in a floral way as they are so expressive. Quite layered and so elite. A knockout nose and that’s just as the bottle is opened. Maybe 3-5% black fruits but barely black. Wow what a palate. Rich yet focused and with maybe 75% red and 25% black fruits but beguiling freshness and velvety, high quality tannins. Wow the nose after a fresh pour is 9.8. Palate has substantial grip, tannins and structure and is imposing but not like a warmer vintage expression of Le Berceau. It’s got velvety, molten tannins that are perfectly ripe and the fruit is mid season red berries and such incredibly realized red fruits with just insane clarity. Infused with herbs and crushed granite and the finish goes on forever. But needs air and my score will go higher.

Nose is now smokey and meaty. Wild flowers and mint. So complex and intense. Palate is so fresh and energetic with red cherry and classic flavors and loads of mineral intensity. Really elegant and stunning texture. So much energy. Wow. 9.5 to 9.6.

Floral and funky on the nose; big, meaty and herbal in the mouth, medium long finish. Really pretty wine, yet still powerful. Bought at the Domaine in France in 2006. Needs 5+ more years. After an hour, really opened...