Les Varonniers Crozes-Hermitage Syrah

Starts out amazing… then bites down. Obviously needs a few steps. I’ll visit my other bottle in 3-5 and I’m sure it will be time well served.

Same comments as before. Last two bottles. Drinking at perfect time.

Drinking perfectly. May 2021. Balance and fully integrated. Soft. A sweetness on nose and mouth. Dark berries. Really lovely. Lighter than I expected. 13% alc helps.

Animally, meaty, dark, smokey and brooding - on the nose at least. Opened up after an hour’s decant and was far more rounded on the second night. Has that classic piercing Syrah quality that seems to swamp one’s airways - and plenty of barnyard funk for some time after opening.

On the palate it’s quite mellow, enveloping, beautifully rounded, medium bodied, with just enough acidity and tannin to give it life. I’d love to have tried this five years ago when I feel like it would have had the power to better impersonate a Hermitage. But, no doubt, it’s superb now.

Interestingly (to me!) I actually found this quite hard to distinguish between a decent Rioja. It is very similar in many ways to La Rioja Alta’s Viña Ardanza. Both in the fruit and the presence / quality of oak. The only difference lying perhaps in richness and depth of fruit.

Overall, a beauty of a wine - one of the appellation’s finest.

Elegant and integrated. Whiffs of tapenade and blackberry with sweet balsamic and roasted herbs.

Порох, мясо, специи и пряность, легкий тон ванили, черная вишня.танины mid+,хороший баланс

Deep in color - north facing created from a very interesting terroir which brings to light an interesting flavor not too complex (also the labels from the distributor are in brail as well)

Hard tannins VA.

Medium ruby, lovely ripe blackberries, cassis, licorice, a hint of earth bursts on the nose. Extremely elegant and lightweight in body especially given the vintage; would have thought there to be more fruit and roundness on the finish but there's a nice peppery lift after the fruit gives way mid-palate. Could be great enjoyed by itself on a warm spring or summer day!

Dark, reductive. Hasn't turned into its true Syrah self. Acidity is a tad flabby. Hope it holds up.