Pick My Next Bottle – 2010 Syrah

The December installment of Pick My Next Bottle focuses on Syrah from the 2010 vintage. All three producers included make exceptional wines year in and year out so vintage variation is rarely a factor when I buy their wines. The winning bottle will be opened on New Years Eve and a Bottle Note will be published the following week.

The contenders:

• 2010 Cayuse Syrah Armada Vineyard – Christophe’s Armada Vineyard Syrah has slowly become one of my favorite releases and the 2010 Syrah Armada Vineyard does nothing to dampen my growing enthusiasm for the vineyard. From a high-density planting in 2001 that lies just behind the winemaking facility (or ‘studio’ if you’re talking with Christophe), it offers up a brilliant bouquet of sweet kirsch and plum liqueur intermixed with notions of bacon fat, wild herbs, ground pepper and liquid rock. Evolving beautifully with air and incredibly complex aromatically, it is full-bodied, voluptuously textured and delivers serious levels of fruit and richness without ever seeming the least bit heavy or cumbersome. Count me a fan and this knockout Syrah will stand toe-to-toe with the best in the world. Give bottles another 2-3 years of bottle age and enjoy over the following 12-15 years. 97+ points. Drink 2015-2030. 97 points from the Wine Advocate.
• 2010 Reynvaan Syrah “The Unnamed” – The 2010 Syrah The Unnamed has the most texture and fruit of the lineup. A big, full-bodied effort that never seems heavy or cumbersome, it offers up layers of Syrah-driven fruit, pepper, underbrush, iron and game to go with voluptuous, yet elegantly styled mouthfeel, no hard edges and thrilling purity. Already reasonably approachable due to its wealth of fruit, it nevertheless has the back-end structure and concentration to evolve for 12-15 years or more. Drink now-2025. 96 points from the Wine Advocate.
• 2010 Saxum Broken Stones – Even more perfumed and up-front aromatically, the 2010 Broken Stones is a brilliant effort. A multi-vineyard blend of 63% Syrah, 19% Mourvedre, 15% Grenache, and 3% Petite Sirah that was aged mostly in new French oak, it offers up a gorgeously pure array of black raspberry, charcoal, licorice, lavender, and assorted floral qualities on the nose. This flows to a full-bodied, deft, and elegant palate that has no hard edges, a weightless feel, and masses of fine, yet firm tannin on the finish. Give bottles another year or three, and then drink over the following 12-15 years. 96 points from the Wine Advocate.

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Thanks for voting! I’d love to see a comment below on why you picked one bottle over another. Also, let me know if you have any suggestions for the January installment of Pick My Next Bottle.

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