2016 En Cerise Vineyard Syrah
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Tasting notes
The 2016 Syrah en Cerise has a tight core of red and black fruits on the nose with a dusty and juicy focus. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, the wine has a youthful expression of mineral tension and granular tannins, then turns to more of a rugged nature with hints of wild underbrush. The wine lingers with a long, dusty finish, showing a mineral grip that remains more on the tart cherry side with flutters of smoked spices. Give this bottle some time to mellow and age. 391 cases were made.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jeb Dunnuck
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
The 2016 Syrah En Cerise Vineyard is another winner (best to date?), showing an incredibly bloody, iron quality as well as beautiful purity in its bright cherry, blackberries, violets, pork fat, and acacia flower aromas and flavors. Seamless, silky, gorgeous, and perfectly balanced, it's another heavenly wine from Baron that’s going to benefit from 2-3 years of bottle age and cruise for 10-15. After a catastrophe with their 2015s due to a cork issue, Cayuse is certainly back on top with these latest 2016s. This is a great vintage for Cayuse and they’ve knocked it out of the park with both their Rhone and Bordeaux variety releases.
This has quite an austere edge of savory, dark stones and spices with a core of fresh black cherries and blackberries. The palate has the same mix of stones and pepper and the tannins are assertive yet fine, carrying plenty of dark berries and plums in a contained, gently stony brand of tannin. Give this some time in bottle.
Bright dark red. Wilder aromas than the Cailloux: dark raspberry, plum, smoked meat, black olive, hoisin sauce and baking spices. Very backward and slightly medicinal, in a more brooding style, with its concentrated dark raspberry fruit complicated by notes of wet stone and smoky minerality. Less fun today than the Cailloux but this is silky, savory and complex, not to mention darker in character. Finishes ripely tannic and very long. I suspect this wine will make a perfect match for a slab of rare duck breast, but I'd still hold it for at least a couple more years. (13.5% alcohol, 15% new demi-muids)