Force Majeure (Grand Reve), Ciel Cheval Collaboration Series Reserve Syrah, Red Mountain

Still has tannins, not much fruit but nice structure. Did not hold up on day 3.

2007 vintage

It's dead, Jim. It fell apart, very clearly. Everything was fragmented, and ended in an unceremoniously bitter finish. It's a shame, this is an interesting wine when it was young. I fear for it's siblings in my cellar.

2007 vintage

Way too much new oak for my tastes in a Syrah--but I also don't like Lalas for the same reason. Everyone else loved it.

2007 vintage

As Hall and Oates would sing, “She’s Gone”. I do love the winery though. This one is on me.

2008 vintage

Gorgeous tonight with huge sweet tannins but I'd drink this within the next couple of years.

2007 vintage

Open and plush on the palate, this is showing a nice balance of fruit and developing tertiary notes. This has held up nicely, but I feel like it has probably peaked. I wouldn’t hold for much longer.

2008 vintage

Although generally atypical of FM, this bottle was showing some disjointedness that I think can come with age. I decanted it for 2 hours in a wide-bottomed one, sampled it along the way, and drank over the next 2-3 hours, on the palate this had 3 strong and divergent tangents of dark fruit, alcohol, and wandering acidity. They did not play together at all and made for an unpleasant, disappointing experience. Hopefully, my last bottle will be different.

2008 vintage

Sadly, my bottle was on the down slide. Fruit was fading and initially the acidity stuck out. Eventually it mellowed out, but the fruit was lacking a bit. Nose was stelar with tons of black pepper

2007 vintage

I opened this on 9/21/18 because I was disappointed in a bottle opened by friends last weekend and wanted to check on one of mine. I decanted it for three hours and found this one much better. It had a rich, deep, powerful bouquet of plum, blackberry, black olive, bacon, anise, pepper and spice aromas. The palate was rich, powerful, dense and dry with flavors of blackberry, plum, black olive, burnt toast, licorice, spice and minerals.

2008 vintage

Friends opened this for our 9/14/18 game night. It had a rich, deep, dark, bouquet of char, burnt toast, plum, blackberry, bacon and spice aromas. The palate was rich, dense and dark with flavors that followed the nose. 90+

2008 vintage

new world. fruit forward (dark black and blue) and lush tannins. decent acidity. very well made and showing no signs of fading

2008 vintage

Developing nicely, tasted they over 2 days. The first day, the fruit was subdued with some menthol. The wine on the first day was atypical with little characteristics reminding me this was syrah. I audozed the remaining wine and on the next day the wine complete unfolded into a plush spicy syrah with huge red fruits. I see why they call this a reserve. I wish i had audozed the whole bottle. An amazing wine, give this a long slow-ox …

2008 vintage

Dark and super concentrated with blueberry, some smoky meat and a great intensity and finish

2007 vintage

Nose of pepper (black), and dark brambly fruit. Palate was really nice. Full dark fruit with pepper and a long lovely finish. Would buy again.

2007 vintage

Beautiful wine. Needs another 5-7 years though.

2008 vintage

cherriea, plums and cassis. Really beautiful wine.

2007 vintage

Nice purity of dark fruit with blueberry, lots of spice and good aromatics and finish

2007 vintage

Splash decant, served with NY steak, carrots. Very nice, dark berries and plums up front followed by a bit of a tartness on the finish. Well balanced, good mouth feel, very smooth. I agree with others that it really doesn't have a typical new world Syrah profile, very little spice. Wine is in a good spot now but should last several more years.

2008 vintage

somewhat off putting at first due to alcohol and lack of integration. Improved greatly on second day in covered decanter. Much more integrated. Rich nose and palate with spice, nutmeg, jerky, black fruits. Nice tannin and mouth coating.

2007 vintage

I gave a full 24 hour decant. Lots of blue and black fruits and earthy notes. Long pleasant finish, really liked this wine.

2008 vintage

pnp, consumed over 4 hours. impressive out of the bottle. not juicy or youthful in its fruit profile, but still very pure and focused. lots of meaty black fruits. still an overt oak note that never integrated to my preference, and i like oak when paired with rich fruit. after a few hours, the acid overtook the tannin in an odd way. probably just in a bit of an awkward phase, but to be honest i'm not sad this was …

2007 vintage

In a great spot right now and ready to drink. Very ripe fruit, with blue/back fruits and an almost sweet finish. Tasty stuff, but a bit over-the-top in terms of ripeness and savory elements. Almost like an Aussie Shiraz.

2007 vintage

Popped and poured at BYO. Needed 10 to 15 minutes to settle down. Dark purple in the glass. Dark fruit, blackberries and plums, but restrained in effect, almost like an old world Northern Rhone Syrah. Lacking in that spicy Syrah edginess. Paired well with duck at restaurant, though.

2008 vintage

decanted 3 hours, consumed 80-20 over two days. day 1 was considerably better than day 2. day 1 had some dried red and black fruits, violet, lots of oak (just like '07). given that fm emulates various French wine regions with their other wines, I'm wondering if they are going for another French style here (I dunno, maybe Cornas?), instead of making a Washington wine. it lacks concentration and power. it's not unfocused, flabby or out-of-balanced; it just lacks enough …

2008 vintage

Needs at least a 2 hour decent to reveal itself. Once open, big nose of lavender, pepper, baking spice, blackberry. Palate becomes silky smooth black licorice, with a bit of tannic finish. Still a touch of alcohol remaining which detracts.

2007 vintage

soft and easy on the palate, first guess, red blend, check and no, its syrah reserve, nice drink but nothing screams reserve

2008 vintage

Going to wait on the next bottles. A well made wine, but not a typical Syrah profile, or at least what I would expect. Lacking that spice that makes Syrahs memorable.

2008 vintage

Perfectly balanced wine with an elegant expression of dark fruit and terror. Love this wine paired with roasted rack of lamb.

2008 vintage

Friends and I tasted this at the 3/16/13 Spring Release. It had tight, dense bouquet of blackberry, plum, toast and bacon aromas. The palate was tight, dense and short with flavors of blackberry, plum, cherry and toast. It seemed somewhat closed down at this time…perhaps it will open and express itself better with additional bottle time.

2008 vintage

Really good, nice depth and layers with well intergrated fruit and smooth nice finish.

2007 vintage

Had side by side with the Torrin Banshee 2009. Torrin I thought had more complexity and depth - also was bigger fruit. This was very nice, good spice and depth. A little vanilla and oak dominate. Was decanted 7 hours. Smooth and very easy to drink, not sure if worth the price tag however.

2007 vintage

gorgeous, but took a couple hours to let the fruit and graham-cracker oak catch their stride with the meaty Syrah. still not ready, but wonderful. would still like it to he weightier and thicker for its "reserve" status.

2007 vintage

Decanted and drank this wine over 3.5 days-Wow! First day, it was too big and complex to fathom with my feeble mind. 2nd day it had fantastic cassis, ripe raspberry, full plum with spices and acid in perfect balance. The finish was long and epic. The 3rd day it started to open up to reveal it complexity with full fruit, spice, charred oak, tannin, mineral, and acid integration. It was only then I could have the wine without food. By …

2007 vintage

decanted for 4 hours, then consumed over 5. surprisingly light-bodied for being a reserve syrah. the co-fermented viognier gives a little floral lift and spice to the wine. lots and lots and lots and lots of oak that i'm not sure will ever fully integrate. for a lighter-bodied wine, it seems like a bad decision to have aged it in 100% new french oak for 38 months. nonetheless, the wine was delicious. the nose offered up burnt sugar and caramel, …

2007 vintage

so smooth, easy, drink this on its own , panty remover, with a group of giant killers, smooth east, fruity but clean long finish

2007 vintage

A friend and I tasted this at the 11/5/11 release party. It had a fabulously deep, rich and alluring bouquet of cassis, plum, raspberry, licorice, spice, burnt toast and mineral aromas. The palate was rich, ripe, round and very tight with flavors that followed the nose. 94+

2007 vintage

This was an "X" bottle from bottling day. An unknown blend of the '08 Series IV and the '07 Reserve Syrah. Needless to say, it was outstanding!

2007 vintage

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Force Majeure (Grand Reve), Ciel Cheval Collaboration Series Reserve Syrah, Red Mountain

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