Domaine de Thalabert Crozes-Hermitage Syrah

From Magnum. Opened about an hour before dinner; enjoyed over the course of two days. Best after a couple of hours. The 2015 “Domaine de Thalabert”pours a deep ruby/purple color with a near opaque core; medium+ viscosity with significant staining of tears and signs of sediment. On the nose, the wine is developing with notes of ripe and desiccated fruit: blueberries, figs, lavender, Kalamata olive, leather, coffee, Bacon fat, spices, and organic earth. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium tannin and medium acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is medium. This was pretty shy and awkward early but after significant air, it came alive. Lots of life left. Drink now through 2035.

Deep purple in color with a short purple rim.

Pretty nose with wild flowers, red and black fruits, light oak, tobacco leaf, dark coffee, spices, dark chocolates, barnyard, light earth, herbs, licorice and black pepper.

Full-bodied and smooth with medium plus acidity and long legs.

Dry on the palate with cherries, raspberries, spices, light oak, licorice, dark chocolates, earth, tobacco, tar, vegetables, bitter herbs and peppercorn.

Long finish with fine grained tannins and tangy raspberries.

This 9 year old Syrah from Northern Rhône is drinking very nicely now. Rich and fruit forward.

Extracted and in your face kind of wine. A little stinky, in a good way, as expected. Complex, elegant and smooth.

Peaking now and will continue to drink nicely in the next 7 years.

Good right out of the bottle and better with airtime. I had the 2016 not too long ago, and liked it better.

Good by itself and better with food.

13.5% alcohol by volume.

91 points.

$50.

Dark as Cot/Tannat, lots of debris, and a bit overextracted; dark ripe and dried berries, charcuteries, and peppercorn on the nose; bone dry and tannic on the palate (and teeth), full-bodied and fruit-forward ok mid-palate, but steely and unexciting finish. I think this was an unlucky bottle variation and will test another bottle next week.

Really enjoyable Syrah - deep dense blackberry that has a good grip on the finish.

No formal notes, dinner with friends.

We knew it was super young but couldn’t keep her hands off of it to compare to the 1995 we had just enjoyed. Opaque ruby color, tightly wound. Good potential in 3-5 yrs

I had yet to try the 2015 Domaine de Thalabert when I noticed a bottle staring at me on the shelf at La Buvette so, naturally, I had to grab it. Popped and poured; served on the spot with Boeuf Bourgogne and Raclette with Paris Ham. Tightly wound at this stage but there’s a lot to like already. Blackberries, violets and black pepper on the nose. Blackberries, spices, savory smoked meat and minerals that suggested a dried blood-like quality on the palate. Firm but fine tannins. This bottle was very well liked by our crew and worked very well with our meal. I’m pleased to have some in my cellar.

Put a bunch of these in the cellar; drinkable now but lots of potential. Dark and red fruits, sweet spices, pepper, some fleshiness, ceder notes, some tight teeth-coating tannins and a long satisfying finish

never came around after a long decant 😕

My second bottle of the 2015 Domaine de Thalabert and another solid showing if not ever so slightly less expressive than the previous bottle. That being said, this was a lovely compliment to the venison stew and I’m still quite bullish on the future of these.