Syrah 'Armada'

Score

95

"A soft, savory syrah with dried-strawberry, light chocolate-powder and walnut character. Medium to full body, round and soft tannins and a delicious finish. Rich, but not overwhelming. Drink or hold."

Score

96

"Bright red-ruby. Dark scents of blackberry, black pepper, violet and smoked meat; blacker than the 2016. Intense, penetrating, juicy and tight, offering a faint citrus peel accent to its flavors of dark berries, minerals, violet, pepper and animal fur. Boasts lovely density and concentration without weight, thanks to an impression of harmonious acidity and high notes of violet and minerals. This beauty carries its firm core of dark berry fruit through a firm, rising, suavely tannic, savory back end, saturating the palate without leaving any impression of weight. A superb showing: this Syrah wine can be tasted with great pleasure today but should gain in complexity and pliancy with another four or five years of cellaring. I love the balance of salinity, gaminess, fruit and minerality."

Score

98

"From the moment you stick your nose in the glass, you are immediately struck with something special. The 2016 Syrah Armada Vineyard has fantastic focus on the nose, with black fruits and a grippy core of minerality, revealing some soft truffle tones and black spices along the way. Full-bodied on the palate, the wine shows an impressive weight and continues to gain in breadth and depth, expanding and unfolding on the mid-palate. Beautifully structured flavors of cured meats and peppercorn evolve with incredible mineral tension and dusty red fruits, and the wine ends with a long, thought-provoking finish. The Armada Syrah is collector-worthy. The 472-case production leaves me speechless. Drink 2019-2040."