Shiraz/Syrah

92 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate"Ziereisen's Syrah 2019 Gestad opens with a pure, intense, bloody and meaty, still reductive but refreshing bouquet of dark cherries, berries, violets, black and green olives and freshly milled white pepper. On the...

98 points DecanterBeware the siren with the ruby-red lips. In a smoky room, here she strides – confident, cool, arresting. Slender, stalky cherry and a smear of blackcurrant bite, spiked with crushed peppercorns. No sunny smiles here, this is...

100 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate"Every bit as profound as the 2010, yet in a more voluptuous, lower acid, hedonistic style, the inky colored 2009 Hermitage les Bessards (aged all in new French oak) offers incredible intensity and depth in its...

93+ points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate"Seemingly refined by the additional elevage since I reviewed a barrel sample last year, the 2019 Crozes Hermitage Domaine de Thalabert remains a big, rich, dark-fruited and almost tarry effort, but this...

95 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate"A superb Maison Bleue, the 2019 Hermitage La Maison Bleue seamlessly blends cherries and cassis into a purple mashup of fruit carried on rich, velvety waves of texture. Full-bodied and intense, it finishes complex...

95 points Wine Enthusiast"This Syrah is massive and steely, wrapping its concentrated black-fruit, sour cherry and black-pepper flavors in firm tannins and acidity. It has the sense of being just underripe, so there's a tension between the nascent fruit...

97 points Tim Atkins“You can smell the grapes from 100 yards away," says Lukas van Loggerenberg of this unique Polkadraai Hills Syrah, which comes from a vineyard at a comparatively elevated 300 metres. With aromas of pine, lavender and black...

98 points Robert Parker's Wine AdvocateOuter quote mark A wine that flirts with perfection is the inky and opaque 2009 Hermitage Domaine des Tourettes. Coming from L'Ermite, le Sabot, and Les Bessards, and aged in a combination of new and used French oak...

96 points Wine & Spirits"A blend of fruit from the lieux-dits Les Bessards, Le Sabot and L’Ermite, this 2019 draws together a picture of the Hermitage hill in all its grandeur and complexity. At its center, it’s bright and juicy,...

95 points Wine Enthusiast"Extreme amounts of cracked black pepper spice up the crumbled lilac, dark-black-plum and snappy red-currant aromas on the dynamic nose of this cool-climate bottling. There's a wild zestiness to the palate, where the peppery...

97 points Jeb Dunnuck"While the Les Grandes Places gets all the love, I also love the Fortis cuvée, which has a more approachable, seamless style that I adore. The 2018 Côte Rôtie Fortis (which includes 5% Viognier and was brought up...

96 points Jeb Dunnuck"A step up, the 2014 Syrah Rodgers Creek Vineyard is a blockbuster effort that reminds me of a good vintage of the Côte Rôtie La Mouline from Guigal. Awesome notes of incense, lavender, bacon fat, and spring flowers gives...