sign up here
https://www.halconwines.com/
I was a fan of the old banshee wines; they made some pretty good wines at very affordable prices back in the day.
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The Halcon Estate release is open.
Took a flyer on the 6-pack. If anyone local wants a bottle or two of the Syrah PM me.
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Brian - you did the right thing. I had a chance to try the wine about 2 months ago in the middle of harvest when Pax brought it to Lodi. It’s awesome. I signed up myself as soon as the email hit the inbox. These are gonna get sought after.
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new article posted In the SFC by Esther Mobley
" the subsequent years have been challenging. Frost killed off almost the entire crop in 2022, and lingering frost effects led to a severely diminished crop in 2023, too. After Mahle and Ziegler sell through the 750 cases of the 2021 vintage, it will be a while before they have any more wine to sell. (They did hold back a small amount of 2021 wine for longer aging, which they’ll release as a reserve cuvee next year.)
Even with a bottle price of $80, not inexpensive for California Syrah, those unfortunate weather events have gotten the new venture off to a shaky start financially"
bummer for the team at Halcon
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Nobody said farming was fair or easy
I wonder why they didn’t have the prior Halcon list folks carry forward. I’m not even sure I got an email, and then I just lost track. Since it sold out, perhaps old customers were not necessarily critical. I’d have bought.
With Pax taking over did they send it out to his list instead? I could see wanting to give a new offer to existing customers if my base was big enough.
Who said it sold out? I doubt it did, at that price, less than 100 bottles on CT…
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I got the offer from them. Don’t be surprised if you deleted it outright because the price was high in comparison to the previous owners offers plus the makeup was different. Just straight 3-packs of Syrah only if memory serves. The look was also very different.
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there’s a white in the mix. got it months ago
and it’s just sitting in the cellar. Iirc, nice cardboard packaging
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I got an email last fall for the Estate Syrah and 3-packs with the white. I passed at that price given I have a lot of Halcon in the cellar at about $25/btl cost averaged across the vintages. Those are awfully good so I can’t imagine the new Estate being 3X better. Looks like Paul and Jackie made a really smart move at the right time.
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@Mel_Hill mentioned the article above - and it’s behind a paywall . . . but yep tough start
Cheers
Ouch. It was available via Google News feed
Gotcha -
Yep tough start for sure . . . but they had to go in knowing that site would be 'challenging for sure. Frost is something they will probably have to deal with more often than most over the next few decades . . .
Cheers
the link in the Instagram story was not behind a paywall
so glad as 99% of links to Esther’s work is blocked for non subscribers
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I had the 2019 last month, almost felt guilty as I didn’t share the bottle with anyone as I opened it during the week. And still have a 2013, plus some ot the original Copain Halcon which started in 2008. I haven’t opened the older Copain stuff in a while but the recent Halcon stuff made by Paul before he sold is really special. I’ve yet to taste the stuff that Pax has made in 2021. Maybe someone in our local tasting groups can go source one and blind it for us…hint @brigcampbell
I’ve been up on that vineyard one time, it was remarkable how high up it sits above everything. What a place.
- 2019 Halcon Vineyards Syrah Alturas - USA, California, North Coast, Yorkville Highlands (1/17/2024)
It's been 2 years since I opened one of these and I was having some Italian food last night and thought man I could use a glass of Syrah so I went and grabbed one of my bottles of inventory and what a beauty this thing is. This version continues to just be a wonderful glass of syrah. It's full of white pepper and purple flower, with dark fruit although there's plenty of red fruit in here too, and a spicy rosemary kind of driven note that extends well into a long finish. The acidity is fresh and the wine has a nice medium weight to it and I just wish I had a whole case of this to drink over the next 5 to 10 years. What a beauty.
Posted from CellarTracker
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Pax brought his inaugural “first” vintage (since he bought it) to a dinner in Lodi during harvest (sorry, can’t remember the exact vintage, but the one that just released here end of last year) and it was a spectacular Syrah. It’s well worth its price.
Have you tried the Elevacion or Alturas for comparison? It’s probably true that we were all getting one of the best values out there, but knowing what you could get for under $40 makes it very tough to go to $80.