Hermitage Syrah

Super fine and elegant. Feral and classy.

Still young. 2011. Powerful and pretty.

Been a few years. Nose starts out reticent but then quickly gets olivey, gamey and full of granite and dark blackberries. Also some dark red berries. Very intense and grandiose as Hermitage should be. Nose gets more floral and mineral with air. Really pretty after 10 minutes. Palate is juicy, elegant and super pure. Wow. Shows the lushness of 15 and the finesse of Luyton and of Hermitage. 15 is such an amazing vintage and it’s aging wonderfully. Awesome fruit and freshness and a brilliant hit of opulence on the finish and mid. Wow. What a showing. Really delicate and elegant. Like top level.

This is lit. Gorgeous nose. Wide open. Granite, mineral, some dark flowers, berry fruit, red and black, loaminess. Smells like a place. Hint of funk that Blows off after 15 minutes. Palate is fresh, energetic, pure and deep. Gorgeous purity and concentration. Herbal, floral and juicy. Velvety and ripe tannins. Terrific structure as it should be. This is very fine.

A beast as expected but so much freshness and length. Nose is gorgeous. Lovely blackberry, granite and hint of funk. Floral and gamey with some herbal aspects as well. Lovely raspberry. So fresh and pure. Deep and layered. Palate is rich and ripe with serious structure and freshness. Big tannins and a bit backwards now but it’s all there and has insane length and freshness.

Haunting nose. Gorgeous red and black fruits. Olives, huge flowers, granite, so floral, so aromatic, can’t stop smelling. Palate is so beautiful. Complex stoney flavors and wonderful high acid that gives this terrific freshness and length. Really juicy and slender and lovely Keith and typicality. Enormous power and concentration but so refined and elegant. Amazing tiny berry fruit explosion. Long finish that pumps and pumps the fruit with stunning acids and purity. Great Hermitage for no money.

Fun! Always great to try up and coming producers especially from such a small and rigid appellation. Dark, brooding nose, blackberry, currant, kiss of blue notes. Hung meat, wood ash, sweet bbq meat, anise, black licorice, iron, peppercorns, crushed granite. Juicy, more immediate after air. Still seems a touch wound, almost waiting for its sweet oak to integrate more. Tannins are robust but very easy to navigate, acid is fresh nor obtrusive. I like the primary quality now, but another 10 years and this will be gorgeous and I would imagine quite elegant.

Wow. What an interesting wine. A hint of Brett that blows off. Nose is very Pretty. Lavendar with a hint of spice. Palate is sweet fruit. Spice. Beautiful internal aromatics. Licorice finish. Great acidity. More like Vilma’s than hermitage which makes No sense unless you’ve had it. A great wine to drink to see the full range of Syrah. I’d love to try a bottle in ten years to see what it tastes like. A very atypical geeky wine. Very glad I had this.

Captivating in its youth, this is in a great place to check in on it before it starts to cross into maturity (which by my guess will start in 4-6 years and go to 20 easy). Intensity and finesse, with purple flowers, garrigue, pepper, tar, currants, strawberry, and raspberry. The ripe tannin are buried in the fleshy texture. The fruit clarity is insane, not sweet, not ripe tasting, just very precise and clear. Sick length, 1+ minutes of the red fruits spiked with garrigue and violets. #luyton #hermitage #hillofhermitage #syrah

Still has that gorgeous feminine nose but now has more oomph on the palate.