TN: 2011 Halcón Alturas Syrah

WINE TALK
1

Paul sent me a bottle and asked that I taste over 2 days. I promised I’d post notes across some boards.

Pnp: color is very dense, not diaphanous, with magenta edges. Pepper on the nose and almost like a chemical scent, although not at all unpleasant. Pretty tight, as expected. The palate again, really, really tight. And again, as expected. It’s dominated by mouth-filling, fine, grainy tannins. There’s barely a hint of fruit. The finish is long, although it’s pretty difficult to discern any flavor.

An hour after opening: pepper is still prominent on the nose. The tannins have settled a bit and there is a distinct minerality on the palate that is emerging. Fruit is still hiding at this point.

Two hours after opening: same notes as “an hour” but the minerality is even more present and there’s a tiny bit of sweet fruit starting to emerge.

A day after opening: tannins have settled down substantially. The minerality is even more pronounced and the acid is coming through pretty clearly. This wine is for food, like fat steak food. The fruit is still hiding, but again, no surprise as this wine isn’t even a baby yet.

Two days after opening: this wine is finally approachable. There’s fruit, the palate is beautiful and velvety. It’s not very vibrant (duh, it’s been open for 2 days), but it’s very nice. This wine is going places, it just needs TIME!

2

Niiice! [cheers.gif]

3

For the record, I’ll be grabbing at least 6 of these just as I’ve done for every offer from them starting with their inaugural '09 Syrah.

4

Its a no brainer!

5

Paul, I’m open for a sent bottle, as well. [cheers.gif]

6

Thanks for the note, Kyle; I’ll have to see if I can track down some of this.

(Typo: The accent should be on the o, not the c.)

7

Indeed, Frank. Fixed.

And if you join the email list, you’ll get a pre-release email, I’m sure.

8

And for the record I get the other 6 from that case :slight_smile: