Better than I was expecting, especially after the notes below. Loads of white pepper and cassis. Per below no beef or bacon, true, but that is dependent on many factors and maybe just not typical of this Syrah. I find that at best you get the beefy edge without the bacon fat in most California Syrah if you get it at all. I usually get more of the licorice, beef and pepper side of Syrah from California. If it did have some of those or other extra complexities it would have scored higher, maybe a 93-94. I did not find it to a fruit bomb or sweet, though a tad high in alcohol. But, for as high as the alcohol was (a whopping 15.6%) after about 30 minutes it was not nearly as noticeable as the rest of the wines attributes kicked in. For high alc haters, ok, maybe an 85 at worst. I also detected a little green pepper akin to some notes below. Or maybe it was the mix of the licorice and white pepper aromas? This was likely from stems left in the initial ferment (just checked their website, 50% whole cluster so it is indeed mostly in part from the stems). Color: Dark, almost black center with red edges. Bouquet: Blackberry, white pepper, some licorice and a few whiffs of green pepper and violets, though the violets faded midway through Palate: A tad alcoholic at first, but after 45 or so minutes the rest of the wine blossomed to bring it back into balance. After an hour it was hitting its stride nicely. Blackberry, cassis, white pepper, some secondary leather and earth. Great oak integration. Long finish of black and red fruits with some mocha sails on. Funny though as I did not get any mocha on the palate initially, maybe just a little extra oak on the finish.