Gérald Besse Syrah Les Serpentines

“Mixed Bag of Syrahs from around the World”-Tasting, Wine 4 (non-blind), in January 2014. The wine was dark ruby in colour and offered rubber, dark fruit, blackberry, some strawberry, leather and tar on the nose. On the palate the medium- to full-bodied wine showed cherry, prune, spices, a hint of liquorice as well meaty and balsamic notes, paired with medium-plus acidity, medium-plus slightly drying tannin, moderate heat from the alcohol and very good length. Not quite as good as previous …

We decanted the wine for one hour. It was bright dark purple in colour and offered a ripe nose with blackberry, pepper, chocolate and coconut. On the palate the wine showed blackberry, some blueberry, pepper, vanilla and creamy chocolate, paired with a good mouthfeel and very good length. A solid Syrah, actually much better than I expected. It drank well, though I am not quite sure if I would enjoy drinking a whole bottle of it. 87+