Halcon, Elevacion, Yorkville Highlands

Deep ruby pronounced strawberry floral notes and pepper on the nose. Palate smooth, high acid. Med alcohol, medium tannin, leads with pepper and funk, very dark cherries, tomato, stemmy finish. Complex and cerebral.

2019 vintage

Dark garnet, not quite opaque, reticent on the nose with a bit of crushed fruit, spice, and dried herbs; palate is a little reticent as well, brooding somewhat backward darker berry fruit, some nice spice hiding here, and quite a bit of fine but chewy structure. Very young, and probably in a bit of a low phase in its evolution, but shows excellent promise. Night 2: hasn’t changed much, maybe a touch more open and floral on the palate, still …

2019 vintage

-- decanted about 45 min. before initial taste -- -- tasted non-blind over a couple hours -- NOSE: strongly peppery --- freshly-cracked black pepper; hint of peppery beef jerky. BODY: medium-light bodied. TASTE: cool climate presentation; tannic; savory; purple-fruited; not gloppy/thick/sweet/overblown; roasted fennel/parsnips/celery savory aspect here, too, which I quite like; very St. Joseph-esque. I think this is drinking fine right now, albeit in an extremely young way, so I'll say Drink or Hold. I'll likely wait a solid 4 …

2019 vintage

I hope time helps this, it did taste different than other Halcon syrahs I've had of like age..this bottle did not show any spritziness, but the acidity seemed elevated and the finish drying. I didn't get the stemmy flavors I sometimes get with young Halcons, but there was a similar, less pleasant note. If it matters, it was a 'root day'

2019 vintage

PnP informal notes, but this is way too young. Deep black olive, bramble and blackberry. Loads of tannin and acidity. Settled with air, but definitely needed a few hours or several years.

2019 vintage

Santa Rosa Plum. Sunchoke. Violets. Bright. Long finish. Still a lot of tannins as expected, but not heavy.

2019 vintage

Wow, this was awesome. I've loved what other producers (Copain, Rhys/Alesia) have done with fruit from this vineyard but this is the first time I've tried the Halcon version. Ringer for a Northern Rhone (maybe stylistically closest to Cornas or Hermitage) with abundant granite, smoke and game meat flavors. Good freshness and acidity keep it interesting.

2019 vintage

This feels much more open vs the 2018 a year ago. Lots of old school Syrah character - black olive, herbs de Provence, plum, violets. Medium acidity and a long finish. Really quite complex and wouldn’t be about of place among St Joseph’s and Cornas bottlings at 2-3x the price. Outstanding stuff.

2019 vintage

Consistent with bottle 1, maybe a bit more savory. Really delicious.

2019 vintage

Really, really good. Just explodes in the glass…and on the palate there’s a great combo of savory notes and CA fruit. I agree that there’s still a youthful green note—we’ll see if that dissipates over time.

2019 vintage

Unfortunately, this 3rd bottle of the '19 Halcon Elevacion did not live up to the prior two. One difference is this bottle came on a "close-out" from an online shop, vs. the other bottles direct from the winery. I couldn't say this was a factor, but the wine was less balanced, showing less depth of fruit, and it was not able to hide the harsh tannins (mainly for preceding reasons), making for an overall less pleasurable tasting experience. So, while …

2019 vintage

This is a very young Syrah that drank well over two days, but needs more time in the bottle for everything to come together. Purple in color and opaque in the glass DAY 1: Aromas of blackberry, black licorice, tar, black pepper, and violets on the nose; tastes of blackberry, tar, and black pepper on the palate; full-bodied, medium acidity, and medium(+) tannins; slightly astringent finish DAY 2: Aromas of blackberry, tar, iron, herbs, and violets on the nose; tastes …

2019 vintage

Young but already offering up plenty. Tight and carbonic on opening. 5 hours later it’s a dream - the whole group is beaming and singing its praises. Try another bottle in 1-2 years before too much of the brightness falls out.

2019 vintage

I found this more brooding than the Alturas is at the moment. Not closed but the fruit is in a bit of a tussle with the stem inclusion right now. There is a greenness to it that sticks up a bit, leaving a slight vegetal character. The tannin also gets a bit of an astringent character from this as well. None is anything a couple more years won't help. Its a lovely wine that just needs more integration and the …

2019 vintage

I drank this wine over three days and it "improved" on day-2 (held strong on day-3). I think this would be the finest Syrah from Halcon I've tried. The flavor density and fruit purity is off the chart, but the wine sacrifices nothing for these endowments -- no overt alcohol, over-weighted presence on the palate, lack of clarity, or imbalance. Structural components are in place here for a very long aging cycle. But, best of all, I felt this wine …

2019 vintage

From a bottle opened yesterday: dark, nearly opaque garnet, medium body, not quite the density of its Alturas sibling. Wonderful nose, with floral crushed dark fruit, bit of spice, garrigue, dried herbs; deep, dark, somewhat brooding blackberry fruit on the palate, quite structured, with loads of complex spices, herbs, finishing with slightly chalky, grippy tannins. One of the most northern Rhone-like California Syrahs I can remember, a spectacular wine, in need of some years to really show its stuff.

2019 vintage

Lovely, fragrant nose with dark fruit, olives, and violets. On the palate, much less approachable than the Alturas. Very tannic and tight that makes it quite difficult to taste right now. Got a lot better with air and showed some darker berries, savory notes, and brine. I think this might need 10 years... 92-94+

2019 vintage

Great bottle. Classic Syrah notes of olive, meat, a little blood, lavender and some white pepper. Savory and compact, crunchy is an apt descriptor. Blind this would be hard not to call St. Joseph. Nothing at all to suggest Northern CA!

2019 vintage

Great flavor, but the texture from the lack of filtering took away from the experience.

2019 vintage

I've been hearing great things about the Halcon syrahs so I was looking forward to this. Unfortunately this bottle at least did not live up to the hype. Lactic on the nose, spirity and ripe on the palate. I was quite puzzled by the comparisons I've read to Gonon. I opened it as part of my monthly blind Zoom wine tasting group and everyone was surprised that I owned such a modern styled wine.

2019 vintage

Tasted blind from small bottle. Nose of dripping blueberry - varnish, others say butterscotch. Nose has a lot of VA and is way over-extracted - just bad. Palate is the same - blueberry and oak. Nose - 3/6, Palate - 2/6, Finish - 2/6, Je ne Sais Quoi - 0/2 = 7/20. so day 4 on the Halcon but damn if it doesn't seem to be improving. it is nowhere near as burly and heavy as it was, and the …

2019 vintage

From a bottle opened 3 days ago, kept mostly in the fridge. Dark garnet, near opaque, this has the deep violet spice on the nose I look for in great syrah, some garrigue, dried herbs, really beautiful; deep blackberry fruit, touches of boysenberry and a violet flourish, quite structured, the tannins are strong with this one on May the 4th, more underbrush inspired spice notes, excellent acidity. This has qualities of both Gonon and Allemand, and needs some years in …

2019 vintage

The 2019 Halcon Vineyards Syrah Elevacion is rather demonstrative, even after its recent bottling, bursting with aromas of lavender, plums, blackberries, rosemary, black pepper and raw cocoa. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and velvety, it's textural and concentrated, with a lively core of fruit and a penetrating, violet-infused finish.

2019 vintage

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Halcon, Elevacion, Yorkville Highlands

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