2021 Domaine des Chirats Syrah
A Yves Cuilleron Collaboration
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Each year, I feel Yves and I get closer to achieving the vision we have had for this project. I have always felt that this vineyard brings a very Hermitage aspect to the table.
Aromatically this wine explodes out of the glass with a sensual, slightly savory, dark chocolate and white floral notes. The palate is loaded with sweet cream, black berry and black cherry with a hint of fresh vanilla, toast and roasted Herbs de Provence. This wine flows from a very giving front palate to a mid-palate that really showcases the minerality of the vineyard. Multi-layered, with sweet tannins that take the wine to an incredibly long finish with flavors of black cherry, olive tapenade, fresh vanilla bean and dark roasted coffee.
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This is the oldest block of Syrah at Rockpile Vineyard. The original budwood came directly from Hermitage and was planted soon after.
After making this Syrah for many years and using it in the 'Haley' bottling, I decided to try a new project. This time, I wanted to work with another of my winemaking heroes, Yves Cuilleron of Côte-Rôtie. Yves and I wanted to take this wine in a different direction then what I had been making.
To really appreciate how different this wine is from the other Rockpile Syrahs I make, one needs to taste them side by side. I also recommend tasting it along side a bottle of Yves' Côte-Rôtie, helps to see and taste how the two styles come together.
I started Jeff Cohn Cellars with the help of my mother, Iris. One adorns the label as a tribute to her.
Appellation: Rockpile
Vineyard: Rockpile, sustainably farmed, vines planted in 1998
Planted at 2010-ft. elevation of granite, loam, clay, quartz, it's the heaviest, rockiest, and steepest vineyard at Rockpile. This elevation puts more stress on the vines producing thick-skinned and small berries. The granite adds a mineral backbone to the weight that the clay creates in the wine.
Learn More About Rockpile Vineyard
Vinification: 100% Syrah
The fruit is hand-picked then cold-soaked. I gently foot-stomp the fruit of which 30% is whole cluster, the rest is whole berry and de-stemmed. None is crushed. The wine goes through open-top, then 100% Malolactic fermentation and aged 18 months in large-format 30% new French oak and 70% neutral French oak barrels.
FedEx Ground:
$.01 12+ 750 mL bottles
$15 1 - 11 750 mL bottles
$15 per magnum
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95 Wine Spectator, Tim Fish — Distinctive and expressive, this Syrah is generous, with black raspberry, smoked meat, garrigue, cracked pepper and floral notes. Builds richness toward medium-grained tannins. Drink now through 2034.
94+ Jeb Dunnuck, Audrey Frick — A collaboration with Yves Cuilleron from the Northern Rhône, the 2021 Syrah Domaine des Chirats is also entirely composed of Syrah, with 30% whole cluster. It comes from the Rockpile Vineyard, where the budwood came from Chapoutier, and Jeff has been working with this vineyard since 2000. The wine displays a wonderful elegance in its aromatic profile, with lush notes of lavender, blackberry preserve, sweet tobacco, and espresso crema. Full-bodied, with a long persistence, it’s an elegant red with a plush, velvety texture and an undercurrent of a dark mineral-tinged profile. This exceptional effort is going to drink well over the next 15 years.
94* Wine Enthusiast, Tom Capo — This rich but refined effort is a collaboration with Yves Cuilleron, and the influence is unmistakable. The raspberry and black-olive scented nose exhibits elements of this wine's Rockpile origin and the famed French vigneron's restraint. The palate is saturated with berry flavors, but not overblown, and the finish shows an evolving array of spices for over 90 seconds. *Cellar Selection
