2019 Horsepower Syrah High Contrast Vineyard
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The 2019 Syrah High Contrast Vineyard is hauntingly dark and herbal in the glass, with masses of crushed rock and citrus-tinged blackberries forming its alluring bouquet. This is soft-textured yet vividly fruit-focused, with licorice-tinged black currant mixing with salty minerals and a hint of mint that lights up the palate. Brilliant acidity adds a lovely energy here, as nuances of sage and rosemary resonate on through the lightly structured finale. I love the contrasting mix of savory tension and sweet fruit that keeps me guessing at each tilt of the glass. The High Contrast Vineyard was planted in 2013 in soils that contain a higher percentage of sandy loam to rocks. (EG)
Critic scores
James Suckling
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
Coming from sandy loam and rocky soils, the 2019 Syrah High Contrast Vineyard is soft and savory with a focused nose, showing aromas of worn leather and fresh dusty red fruit tones in the glass. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is firm with flavors of cured meat before shifting toward savory herbs with a mineral tension as waning fruit tones take a backseat. Seemingly a little moody now, the Syrah offers hints of olive and turned earth before ending with a long, spicy, meaty finish. Give it another year in the bottle and drink over the next 10 to 12 years.
More iron, beef blood, and foresty, mushroom, almost metallic notes all emerge from the 2019 Syrah High Contrast Vineyard, another savory, powerful, incredibly impressive wine in this lineup. Deep purple/plum-hued, this full-bodied beauty has both black and blue fruits, ripe, building, yet polished tannins, a great mid-palate, and one heck of a gorgeous finish. There's a liquid rock-like minerality as well as a meaty, leathery character that's not far off a great vintage of La Chapelle. It's certainly the richest and most concentrated of the trio of Syrahs in 2019. Give bottles 3-5 years and enjoy over the following 25-30 years.
Aromas of nutmeg, black cherry, blackberry, smoke and stone. Full-bodied with melting tannins. Very concentrated and layered on the palate. Crushed dark fruit and coffee. Lovely baking-spice complexity. Savory. Balanced, with excellent intensity and depth.