“A muscular, broad-
shouldered wine with huge
fruit encapsulated in a velvet jewel-box of a personality.”
—Jay Miller,
The Wine Advocate

En Cerise Vineyard Syrah

Produced: 2000 - present

Professional reviews and tasting notes from prior vintages:

2008

The 2008 En Cerise Vineyard Syrah offers up a remarkably complex, sexy perfume that leaps from the glass. Exotic spices, a velvety texture, and a succulent richness on the palate are sublime. It, too, can be enjoyed for a decade or more. 99 points.
–Jay Miller, The Wine Advocate

Rich and round, yet amazingly transparent as the cherry, mineral, tar and sassafras flavors expand over the long, expressive palate. This shows richness and depth balanced with vibrant acidity, finishing with intensity. Best from 2012 through 2020. 96 points.
–Harvey Steiman, Wine Spectator

Bright ruby-red. Black raspberry, bacon fat and an exotic apricot note on the nose, complicated by a saline nuance; very Old World. Then thick, saline and sweet; less high-pitched than the Cailloux syrah but really stains the mouth with dark fruits, wild herbs and smoke. Still a bit youthfully edgy on the back end, finishing with terrific lift and a note of black olive. 93 points.
–Steven Tanzer, International Wine Cellar

2007

The 2007 Syrah En Cerise Vineyard (100%) is a glass-coating opaque purple color. On the nose espresso, smoked meat, olives, and garrigue-like aromas offer much to contemplate. Intense, balanced, and subtly elegant, it boasts a finish that just won’t quit. It delivers impressive immediate gratification, but those who can wait for 5-7 years will be well rewarded. 98 points. –Jay Miller, The Wine Advocate

Focused like a laser, this beams oodles of fresh currant, plum and black olive flavors through a veil of refined tannins. This is fleshy, sneaking in wafts of pepper, licorice and tar on the finish. Drink now through 2020. 95 points.
–Harvey Steiman, Wine Spectator

2006

The 2006 Syrah En Cerise Vineyard is a glass-coating opaque purple color. On the nose liquid asphalt, bacon fat, olives, and garrigue-like aromas offer much to contemplate. Intense, balanced, and totally succulent, it boasts a finish that just won’t quit. It delivers impressive immediate gratification but those who can wait for 5-7 years will be well rewarded. 97 points. –Jay Miller, The Wine Advocate

Polished, round and harmonious, deftly playing its effusive ripe cherry and currant fruit against wisps of mineral, black olive and tobacco as the finish expands and persists expressively. Best from 2010 through 2018. 95 points.
–Harvey Steiman, Wine Spectator

2005

The 2005 Syrah En Cerise features garrigue notes, mineral, meat, game, and blueberry. This brooding effort is dense, opulent, and powerful. Give it 5-7 years of cellaring and drink it through 2025. 97 points. –Jay Miller, The Wine Advocate

Refined, offering a gorgeous mouthful of raspberry, strawberry and tea leaf flavors that find a deft balance as they soar through the long, vivid finish. This is a Syrah that shows restraint without losing a whit of its fruit character, as the tannins submerge themselves in the finish. Best from 2010 through 2015. 94 points.
–Harvey Steiman, Wine Spectator

2004

The 2004 Syrah "En Cerise Vineyard’s multidimensional perfume of pain grille, plums, blueberry, spice box, and leather leaps from the glass. This is followed by a wine with remarkable depth and concentration, a muscular, broad-shouldered wine with huge fruit encapsulated in a velvet jewel-box of a personality. With a finish lasting well over a minute, this powerful yet elegant wine should drink well through 2045. 96 points.
–Jay Miller, The Wine Advocate

Here’s a strong whiff of what Cayuse’s Christophe Baron calls the "good funk," augmented with a blast of black pepper, meat and blood. There’s wild herb lurking in the background also, and as the Syrah opens up slowly in the glass it develops a powerful green tea scent. But what a glorious, pungent, earthy and sensuous mix of flavors, wild, organic and fascinating. 92 points. –Paul Gregutt, Wine Enthusiast

A bit tight on the nose, but the mineral-accented cherry and pomegranate flavors spread across the palate, hinting at espresso as the finish persists against superfine tannins. Drink now through 2014. 93 points. –Harvey Steiman, Wine Spectator

2003

Deep red. Highly nuanced nose combines cherry, raspberry, smoked meat, sandalwood, pepper and flint. Spicy, musky and not at all overly sweet, with flavors of raspberry, grilled meat and sandalwood, along with a saline nuance. Very Northern Rhone in style. Finishes with ripe, suave tannins. 91 Points. –Stephen Tanzer, International Wine Cellar

The En Cerise is all Syrah; very dark, young and toasty. It already shows streaks of smoke, pepper, grilled meat, cassis and pomegranate. There’s baby fat—bacon, wood spice—but terroir behind it. Herbs, grainy fruit, nuances of grain and herb and wood and earth, all very clean. 93 points. –Stephen Tanzer, International Wine Cellar

The dark fruit-scented 2003 Syrah En Cerise Vineyard is medium-bodied, displays outstanding depth of fruit, and possesses appealing mouthfeel. Spicy blackberries make up its expressive, pure, deep, and long flavor profile. It should be enjoyed over the next 4-5 years. 90 points. –Jay Miller, The Wine Advocate

Amazingly, eye-openingly, effusively peppery, a jolt to the senses that then subsides and lets the cherry, red plum and red berry flavors come waltzing through, establishing a beachhead on the palate that carries through the finish. Gorgeous stuff, finishing with a tang. Drink now through 2014. 92 Points.
–Harvey Steiman, Wine Spectator

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