2012 Cuvee Keltie Syrah
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Tasting notes
The 2012 Syrah Cuvee Keltie is brilliant, and over the two days I followed the bottle, it only continued to improve with air. Coming from a top selection of their single vineyard and not destemmed, this cuvée always sees 20 months all in neutral oak. If there's a flagship release in the lineup of Syrahs, this is it. The 2012 offers a brilliant perfume of red and black currants, smoked meats, lavender, ground pepper, and herbes de Provence, and it gains complexity and depth with air. Still youthfully colored, full-bodied, and concentrated, it has plenty of ripe tannins, notable freshness and purity, a fabulous texture, and no shortage of length or character. Drink it over the coming 15 years or more.
Critic scores
Average Score
Robert Parker
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
Black cherry, firm tannin – bold and astringent, and demanding age. Fragrant and dense and massive – a slow, lumbering style. (RH)
Dark chocolate, plums, mocha, dark spices and inky black cherries open up in the 2012 Syrah Cuvée Keltie. A vein of tannin gives the 2012 much of its energy, focus and drive. Here, too, the style is a bit laid back, but all the elements fall into place. This is another pretty, if somewhat restrained, wine from Donelan.
The 2012 Syrah Cuvée Keltie is a selection of choice blocks of vineyards they work, such as the Obsidian, Walker Vine Hill, Richard’s, Steiner Ranch. It’s meant to be their crème de la crème offering, and this wine’s score suggests that they succeeded. 100% Syrah aged 20 months in neutral French oak, it tips the scales at 14.7% natural alcohol. An opaque purple color offers up notes of pen ink, white chocolate, charcuterie, lavender, blackberry and pepper aromas. Very full-bodied with a multidimensional mouthfeel, layers of fruit, glycerin and intensity, this is stunning stuff and a candidate for perfection with more bottle age. Drink this remarkable, prodigious Syrah over the next 20-25 years. By the way, this is 100% whole cluster, and indigenous yeasts were used for both alcohol and malolactic fermentation.