2018 Syrah Reva Alban Estate Vineyard
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Tasting notes
The 2018 Syrah Reva is concentrated and powerful with impressive structural elegance and purity. Deep ruby-purple, it offers alluring aromas of warm chocolate, lilac, cracked pepper and charcuterie that complement an intense core of blackberry and blueberry preserves alongside a singular streak of iodine or pen ink character. The palate is full-bodied and packed with powdery tannins, boasting tremendous detail, layering, perfume and length. All that generosity, so finely woven, suggests it will be an epically long-lived wine.
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Average Score
Jeb Dunnuck
Josh Raynolds
More reviews and scores
Leading off the three Syrahs, the 2018 Syrah Reva is a classic expression of this cuvée with its powerful black fruits, iron, iodine, pepper, and assorted more gamey aromas and flavors. These all carry over to the palate, where it's full-bodied and has the pure, focused style of the vintage as well as a stacked mid-palate. Readers looking for a quintessential Alban Syrah will love this beauty, which can be drunk any time over the coming 20+ years. It’s clear that Alban has another truly special vintage on their hands with these 2018s, and these might be the finest wines I’ve tasted from this estate. Reminding me slightly of the 2016s, these aren’t massive, over-the-top wines, and they excel every bit as much for their purity, balance, and elegance as they do for their richness and texture. The 2019s also showed well, and those will be reviewed from bottle next year. As I hope these reviews show, I don’t think anyone is doing Rhône varieties better.
Opaque ruby. Powerful, mineral-accented black and blue fruit and floral aromas take on pipe tobacco nuances with air. Fleshy, juicy and expansive in the mouth, offering ripe blackberry, kirsch and violet pastille flavors that tighten up slowly through the back half. Densely packed yet energetic, finishing with resonating florality, youthfully firming tannins and strong persistence.