Syrah 'En Cerise'

Score

98

"The 2022 Syrah En Cerise Vineyard is 100% varietal from ungrafted vines and is dark and exotic in tone. Licorice candy and violet lead to a sensual mouthfeel of refined tannin and well-integrated oak, the wine aged 18 months in 15-20% new French barrels. Salty salinity comes up against a meaty char component of iron, green tea, peat moss, and complex tension. There™s a powerful purity to the whole experience, which finishes complete. Cellar through 2042."

Score

97

"Ripe black cherries, darker raspberries, sappy flowers, shiitake mushrooms, and a kiss of black pepper all define the 2021 Syrah En Cerise Vineyard, an incredibly pure, seamless, elegant Syrah from this estate. It's always a perfumed, exotic wine, yet the 2021 shines for its incredible purity, precision, and length. It benefits from air and will drink beautifully over the coming 15 years or more."

Score

96

"This meaty and savory red shows aromas and flavors of black plums, sage, licorice, bacon fat, iodine and capers. It™s full-bodied, open and deliciously salty, with ripe, supple tannins. Increasingly salty and it persists for a very long time. Around 70% whole-cluster fermentation. From biodynamically grown grapes. Drinkable already, but better from 2027."

Score

96

""The wine's blackberry and tangerine aromas blend with equally compelling notes of espresso"

Score

96

"Wickedly fresh, the 2021 Syrah En Cerise Vineyard opens with a dark mix of wilted violets, ashen stones, rubbed sage and musky currants. It's juicy and round with masses of black cherry fruits underscored by saline minerals and exotic spice, as a core of vibrant acidity maintains amazing lift despite its power and size. This leaves a balsamic and cocoa tinge, tapering off long and staining with edgy tannins and a resonance of black olive that lingers."

Score

95+

""A mentholated freshness lifts savory woodland herbs and dried black cherries as the 2020 Syrah En Cerise Vineyard opens in the glass. Juicy and vividly fruit-focused"

Score

95

"The 2021 Syrah en Cerise displays a medium ruby hue with a soft garnet edge. It features sappy black cherry and sour plum notes complemented by spicy herbs and hung meat, offering an earthy, robust character. On the medium-bodied palate, dusty flowers and iodine unfold to firm, gripping tannins that lead to a finish marked by notes of smoked cherries. Best enjoyed with food. This Syrah spent 18 months aging, with approximately 20% of the wine resting in new French oak. A total of 4,548 bottles were made."

Score

95

"Blackberries were no surprise. The aromas of meat and caraway seeds uniting to create a pastrami perfume however, were. The wine™s blackberry-compote, rosemary and lavender-water flavors are equally captivating. The En Cerise shows a deft hand, with restrained alcohol, crisp acidity and velvety tannins. The En Cerise does not roar, it purrs. "M.A."

Score

95

"A compelling and impeccably structured red that serves up expressive flavors of blueberry and raspberry accented by crushed stone, garrigue and tapenade tones as this builds tension and personality on the finish. Drink now through 2035. "T.F."

Score

94+

"The 2022 Syrah En Cerise Vineyard is savory to the core, with ground pepper, flint, cloves, caraway seeds and crushed blackberries. It is soothingly round and more lifted in feel, with mineral-inflected red berry fruits underscored by salty mineral tones. A cascade of violet and lavender resonates as the 2022 finishes gently tannic and full of youthful tension, with hints of tart blackcurrant and spice pinching at the cheeks. I'm tempted to go even higher here, but only time will tell."

Score

93

""Bright black cherries"

Score

93

""Savory"

Score

93

""Richly structured and detailed"