2011 Rhys Horseshoe Syrah--a tour de force?

In a similar vein to Richard Malloy’s recent thread “2012 Rhys Pinot Noir Horseshoe Vineyard --a fit for the AFWE palate?” I’m trying to get a bead on the '11 Rhys Horseshoe Syrah. Seems to be a significant difference between a couple of reviewers. Gilman and Raynolds loved it, Galloni didn’t. I trust AG’s palate on Italian wines . . . on West Coast wines, the jury–for me–is still out. Raynolds–I’m less in tune with him then I used to be. I’ve had some JR highly rated Cal pinots that I didn’t care for–too full, sweet. Gilman–relatively unknown to me. (Now if Tanzer was one of the positive reviewers (or Schildknecht), then case closed–a definite buy).
Anyway, here are the reviews:

Galloni:
The 2011 Syrah Horseshoe Vineyard is delicate and understated in the glass, with less of the mid-palate depth of the best years. Plum, licorice, menthol and floral notes emerge over time, but the Horseshoe possesses only moderate concentration, something that is especially evident on the finish. The long, cool growing season was especially challenging for Syrah. This fruit was picked into November. No amount of skilled farming and winemaking can fully compensate for the whims of Mother Nature. 89 pts. 2014-2019.

Gilman:
The 2011 Horseshoe Vineyard Syrah is a beautifully transparent and refined wine, offering up striking purity with its 12.9 percent alcohol format. The bouquet offers up a precise and complex constellation of cassis, black raspberries, black olive, fresh herb tones, a superb base of dark soil, grilled meats, chocolate and a bit of cedary wood. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and very soil-driven, with superb mid-palate intensity, tangy acids, moderate tannins and excellent focus and grip on the long, pure and very well-balanced finish. This is a tour de force example of Santa Cruz Mountain syrah. 2019-2040+. 95+.

Raynolds:
Inky ruby. Heady cherry compote, blackberry, olive and cola scents are sharpened by cracked pepper and minerals. Stains the palate with sweet dark fruit and floral pastille flavors, showing uncommon density and power for the vintage while remaining fresh and energetic. Bitter cherry and spicecake qualities carry through the finish, which is firmed by dusty, building tannins and juicy acidity. 94

I’d appreciate any thoughts. Did Galloni catch it on a bad day? “Only moderate concentration” . . . “challenging” vs “a tour de force.” A 2014- 2019 vs 2019-2040+ drinking winddow? Something is off.

Sure reads as if Galloni was drinking a different wine. The Gilman and Raynolds reviews are very, very similar.

Had Galloni come directly from Paso when he tasted the wine?

Sadly, I can’t remember if I’ve tried this one, there is nothing in my notes. Kevn, have you poured this at a pickup, or other times?

Gee, different opinions based on different palates . . .no surprise to me whatsoever.

Did Gilman and/or Raynolds taste WITH the Rhys folks or did Galloni? Time of day? How long was the wine opened?

Lots of moving parts here . . .

Cheers!

I don’t find it hard to believe that a wine Gilman finds full bodied someone else may find lacks concentration. It’s not a secret that he likes the lighter, less ripe style of wine, especially Cal. Syrah. I would put Rhys in the Arnot Roberts style of syrah, well made wines but not my style I find them too light.

I think we’re starting to over think this a bit. If you looked at any wine, two of three reviewers agreeing ain’t bad, as it were, and its far more art than science.

Also, in my experience, the HS Syrah evolves a lot early on, so if they’re tasting months apart, they would be expected to have ranging notes.

Anyway, I have never noticed Raynolds to like sweet table wines, but we might be using the term differently. Either way, based upon that comment, I would recommend you put more stock in Gilman’s reviews.

And just to show no two palates are alike, I find Rhys Syrahs notably more full bodied than Arnot-Roberts.

Alan,
I am pretty sure you have seen it but we did not pour this wine at last Fall’s pickup since we were already pouring the Alesia Syrah.

I appreciate that we have great coverage from professional critics and it’s only natural that their reviews don’t always exactly align. FWIW, I really enjoy this wine. It is clearly cool climate Syrah but IMO quite complete and over the last year I think it has filled and rounded out quite a bit. To provide further context on my opinion, I should also point out that I prefer '91 Chave to '89 or '90.
I would highly recommend this wine to people who enjoy Northern Rhone style Syrahs (especially those with less oak as this sees none). At the same time I would not recommend this wine for lovers of larger scaled Syrahs.

I just moved this bottle from the back of the cellar to the front, to be placed in a blind tasting of six California syrahs. The six wines will run a broad spectrum (A to T) of styles (e.g. Arnot-Roberts to Torrin).

It will be interesting to check in on the Horseshoe.

No wonder I can never find a bottle of the '91 Chave when I go looking for one!

Thanks guys . . . sounds like my type of syrah (and I would have thought Galloni’s too, since he’s a big fan of Arnot-Roberts syrahs).

FWIW, here is my note from last spring, tasted at the winery from a freshly opened bottle.

“This wine proved to me that I have been wrong to not buy my allocations of Syrah. Whoa, Nelly! This is a panoply of barnyard scents, perhaps from somewhere in Ireland with a slight hint of peat smoke, all spiced up with a healthy peppering of the black freshly-cracked kind. The texture and flavors follow the nose exactly, being full-bodied, full-flavored, spicy, brooding, with strong dark berry fruited juice. This is a very fun wine to drink now. I suspect it will age nicely, but depending on the size of my allocation I may not ever prove it. Delicious Syrah!”

Thanks Craig! Love barnyard, love peat.

Kevin, did you really mean to say that this wine saw no oak, or did you mean to say that it saw no new oak? If it sees no oak at all, in what vintage did that change occur?

Sorry Kevin, I meant to say no new oak. After performing malo in tank, we put the wine in neutral (>5 yr old) oak barrels. Also starting with 2012, we are using large (2500L) casks with our Syrah as well as older barrels.

Thanks, Kevin.

Perhaps one of the bottles was slightly corked? And perhaps this was missed by Galloni? Could happen - you never know . . .

Love me some cool climate syrah so will have to search this one out.

Cheers!

To me, Galloni isn’t the outlier. Raynolds is.
It’s 12.9%. As I read it, they tasted the same thing but feel differently about it. Antonio’s drinking window is yesterday. Gilman is holding till 2019. Raynolds is talking about compotes and palate staining and uncommon density, none of which I’m looking for in a 2011 anything, but then he gives it a 94.

Palates shift whoever you are. You gotta know where your critic is at, or the words just aren’t all that helpful.

In other news, I also see rhys syrah and A-R syrah as unrelated.

– popped and poured –
– tasted non-blind on Day 1 over one hour, and revisited on Days 2 and 3 –

NOSE: smoky with some light oak; very pepper; medium+ expressiveness; incense. Day 2: stemmy and red-fruited. Day 3: still stemmy, but now with a hint of oxidation.

BODY: medium bodied.

TASTE: drying oaky tannins; alc. hidden; medium+ acidity; oaky/spicy; red-fruited. Day 2: oak has receded somewhat; red raspberry; stemmy/smoky/olive mix. Day 3: still stemmy/olive; fruits a bit darker than previous days; hint of oxidation. Very nice, but I do wonder if the stems will ever fully integrate. gut impression score: 91 – 92. Drink now and over next 10 years, but best to Hold for a few years.

According to Kevin Harvey, the 2011 Horseshoe Syrah was completely destemmed (in response to a thread I had started where I made the same comment as you did about stemmy flavors).

[KH]: “I hesitate to interrupt a controversial thread but thought a couple of points might add context to the discussion. The 2011 vintage was the coolest CA vintage in at least two decades. Our Syrah at Horseshoe struggled to ripen and we picked the grapes after Nov. 6. Given the late ripening we decided to use no stems and the wine was completely destemmed. Meanwhile 2012 was a ripe (and nearly ideal) vintage. Comparing wines from these two vintages should provide a stark contrast in vintages. While I love cool climate Syrah, I certainly understand if someone prefers wines from warmer vintages.”

When I took his suggestion to try the 2012 Horseshoe, it tasted like canned green beans, so stems (or the lack thereof) and warmth (or the lack thereof) seemed to have little effect on what I had tasted.