Looking at the 2018 Syrah Red Mountain Estate, which comes from the estate on Red Mountain, it saw a splash of Viognier and 15% stems, with the élevage in a mix of new and used French oak barrels. Revealing a dense purple hue as well as a powerful, full-bodied style, it offers gorgeous cassis and blackberry fruits interwoven with lots of rocky minerality, beef blood, smoked game, and chocolatey nuances. These carry to a full-bodied, concentrated, opulent Syrah that reminds me of a Ermitage Le Méal from the likes of Chapoutier (I pulled one from my cellar to compare) with its ripe, sexy, yet still structured and layered texture. This is a beautiful, world-class Syrah from Red Mountain that will benefit from 2-3 years of bottle age and keep for over a decade.

93+ Displaying an opaque core with vibrant purple tears, the 2018 Estate Syrah has a bold and expressive nose with fresh, ripe blackberries, dark plum, dusty black cherry skin, elements of black raspberry, hints of pencil shavings and brilliant elegant oak tones. Full-bodied, it is expressive with juicy tannins, where you almost end up chewing the wine, giving way to a balanced structure with a black-fruited core and polished purple floral grip. Tasting this wine, you get the sense of the warmth and intensity that Red Mountain imprints on the expression. The food-friendly wine concludes with a long, drawn-out finish and flavors of dusty bitter dark chocolate. This was made using 15% whole cluster Syrah and fermented with native yeast in concrete and open stainless steel vessels. Roughly 400 cases were produced. - AM