2011 Syrah Wine

James Halliday, 94 points: Good colour; a complex wine with an unusual, albeit pleasing, progression of aromas and flavours: hints of spice and mint, then dark berry fruits on the mid-palate, and finally a rising swell of earthy/licorice/liqueur...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 98 points: 98+ As expected, the 2011 Ermitage l’Ermite, which comes from the lieu-dit of the same name, is more backward and focused, with a slightly closed, tight profile. Slowly giving up ample cassis and black raspberry fruit...

Wine Spectator, 95 points: Offers a mouthfilling, brambly feel, with dark plum, steeped blackberry and mulled boysenberry fruit at the core, backed by anise, singed mesquite and black tea notes that give the finish a perfumy caste. Has depth and...

Wine Spectator, 95 points: This has a gorgeous mouthfeel, with a velvety yet racy edge allowing the dark plum, black cherry compote, anise, iron and dark olive notes to unfurl through the long finish. Should age well. Best from 2016 through 2026. – JM

Wine Spectator, 94 points: Very focused, with a lovely beam of lightly steeped red currant, bitter cherry and plum fruit flavors that glides atop singed cedar, black tea and dried star anise notes. The long finish is very fine-grained. A gorgeous...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 94 points: One of the top efforts, the 2011 Cornas (aged 15 months in one- to two-year-old barrels) is a big, voluptuous and textured effort that offers up peppery cassis and dark fruits, underbrush and earth to go with medium to...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 94 points: Also inky colored, full-bodied and seriously rich, the 2011 Hermitage boasts knockout aromas and flavors of blueberry, creme de cassis, plum pit, scorched earth and crushed rock. Dense, concentrated, yet also voluptuously...

James Halliday, 94 points: 119-year-old vines have produced a shiraz with very good colour; the bouquet offers leather, spice and dark chocolate, the rippling black and red fruit flavours with exactly the right amount of fine tannins, 20 months in...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 99 points: Even better and one of the top two to three wines in the vintage, the 2011 Hermitage Les Bessards (100% Syrah that spent 16 months in 70% new French oak) possesses an inky purple color to go with a fabulously rich, pure...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 95 points: (RP92-95 points) Although these wines are normally reviewed by my colleagues David Schildknect in his Languedoc-Roussillon and Alsace reports and Lisa Perrotti-Brown in her reviews of Australian wines, I tasted them...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 100 points: Even better and a prodigious effort that hits all my sweet spots, the 2011 Ermitage Le Pavillon comes from one of the top terroirs on Hermitage hill, the granite soils of the Les Bessards lieu-dit. Spectacularly perfumed...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 96 points: The 2011 Scrio (100% Syrah) is the vintage darling. The wine boasts abundant varietal character with black fruit and Morello cherry in center stage. Asian spice and barbecue smoke round off the edges and the wine delivers...

Wine & Spirits, 92 points: My initial tasting note for this wine read “feral, sexy, dark, dark, dark.” That sums up this cassis-scented red from the Klipsun and Ciel du Cheval vineyards, a warm fruit compote of a wine with a dark leather fringe...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 94 points: More substantial, with a meaty, muscular feel, the 2011 Cote Rotie La Landonne exhibits lots of olive tapenade, underbrush, crushed rock and blackberry-styled fruit on the nose. Full-bodied, nicely concentrated...