I don't drink very many Chapoutier wines for some reason, mostly they are too expensive. I found this on sale a few years ago at Flickinger wines and I picked up a few bottles to try. We drank it with grilled lamb T-bone chops (yes, from Costco) basted with an olive and anchovy paste at the end of cooking, and also some potato pancakes, to celebrate Festivus.
The wine had a youthful deep ruby color without any bricking. It was very tight at first, and opened up over several hours. There was a little bit of vanilla at first, but as it opened this moved into the background. The nose eventually showed an interesting mix of menthol, restrained red and darker fruits, and dried mushroom. In the mouth it was very structured. The dark fruits continued with some black olive and a peppery finish. The tannins were firm and dry. The wine certainly has enough structure to age more, but whether the wine has enough other stuff to outlast the tannin is anyone's guess.
From JLL, the wine comes from selected 50 year Syrah vines outside of Mauves, with a granite based soil, hence the name. The grapes are allowed to get very ripe and are de stemmed before pressing. It ferments in concrete vats, and then is aged in a variety of new (1/3) and older oak for 14-18 months. This was listed at 13.5% abv. The wine didn't taste over ripe to me, there was no prune or raisin or cooked fruit flavors. I enjoyed it, but with the dry tannins it really needs food. It was great with the lamb. JLL mentions that this wine could live 15+ years and suggests a drinking window of 2007-2018.
The wine had a youthful deep ruby color without any bricking. It was very tight at first, and opened up over several hours. There was a little bit of vanilla at first, but as it opened this moved into the background. The nose eventually showed an interesting mix of menthol, restrained red and darker fruits, and dried mushroom. In the mouth it was very structured. The dark fruits continued with some black olive and a peppery finish. The tannins were firm and dry. The wine certainly has enough structure to age more, but whether the wine has enough other stuff to outlast the tannin is anyone's guess.
From JLL, the wine comes from selected 50 year Syrah vines outside of Mauves, with a granite based soil, hence the name. The grapes are allowed to get very ripe and are de stemmed before pressing. It ferments in concrete vats, and then is aged in a variety of new (1/3) and older oak for 14-18 months. This was listed at 13.5% abv. The wine didn't taste over ripe to me, there was no prune or raisin or cooked fruit flavors. I enjoyed it, but with the dry tannins it really needs food. It was great with the lamb. JLL mentions that this wine could live 15+ years and suggests a drinking window of 2007-2018.