95

2016 GRAND CIEL SYRAH

Bright ruby-red. Pungent violet lift to the slightly liqueur-like aromas of crushed blueberry and boysenberry. Quite thick, dense and savory, showing no easy sweetness to its concentrated flavors of black fruits, licorice and violet. Even more fruity and less meaty than the Signature Syrah but then this wine is still quite tightly wound and backward, and there’s almost certainly more complexity to come. Finishes very fine-grained and long, with tannins in harmony with the wine’s fruit. (entirely destemmed in 2016; aged in 30% new barriques)

STEPHEN TANZER | Dec 2019 | VINOUS.COM

2016 GRAND CIEL SYRAH

The 2016 Syrah Grand Ciel is a pure expression with a black-fruited core of aromas on the nose, with rich and firm spices, black pepper and just-ripe black plum and cassis. Full-bodied, the wine is still firm and rigid with expressive blackberries on the palate, with a density to the mid-palate. The wine ends with grippy tannins and a structured, lingering spice on the long finish. It’s youthful and still hard at present. Give it some time to come around in the cellar. Only 300 cases were made and which will blossom with cellar age.

Anthony Mueller | Dec 2019 | 246, The Wine Advocate

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2015 GRAND CIEL SYRAH

(from the 383 clone; aged entirely in barriques, 35% new; this vineyard features just two feet of soil over river rock and basalt): Bright medium ruby. An aroma of black raspberry eau de vie is complicated by hints of prosciutto and tea leaf. Juicy, sharply delineated flavors of dark berries, cardamom and pie spices are lifted by a floral topnote. Wonderfully fine-grained and suave, delivering uncommon detail and cut for a 2015 red. “How Syrah should be,” notes executive winemaker Chris Upchurch, who added that “DeLille’s middle name is tannin management.” Finishes with outstanding rising length and a captivating light touch. This wine should evolve gracefully in bottle over the next decade or more. (14.6% alcohol)

STEPHEN TANZER | JUL 2018 | VINOUS.COM

93+

2014 Grand Ciel Syrah

(this vineyard is adjacent to Ciel du Cheval; 35% new oak; 3.7 pH): Bright ruby-red. Very ripe aromas of blackberry, blueberry, licorice and menthol verge on porty. Fatter and sweeter than the Signature Syrah; less penetratingly fruity but this chocolatey-rich wine benefits from a captivating note of cardamom and harmonious acidity. The exotic spice character carries through the sweet, very long finish, which features serious but plush tannins. This clone (Entave clone 383) ripens a bit later but retains acidity well, notes Upchurch.

STEPHEN TANZER | JUL 2017 | VINOUS.COM

2014 Grand Ciel Syrah

Sporting a deeper, more purple and opaque color than the Signature Syrah, the 2014 Syrah Grand Ciel is a single vineyard cuvee that’s 100% Red Mountain Syrah, all from a single clone, aged in barrel. It offers impressive notes of black fruits, espresso roast, cured meats and tapenade. These flow to a full-bodied, nicely concentrated Syrah that’s nicely balanced, has good mid-palate density, plenty of texture and a good, yet surprisingly short finish for this cuvee. It’s enjoyable today, yet I’d hold bottles for a year or two and hope it develops more length.

Jeb Dunnuck | Jun 2017 | 231, The Wine Advocate

2014 Grand Ciel Syrah

This wine’s black raspberry, crushed rock, blackberry, smoke and plum aromas are brooding. Its rich but focused cranberry and cherry flavors linger on the finish.

SEAN P. SULLIVAN | SEP 2018 | WINE ENTHUSIAST

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2013 Grand Ciel Syrah

A stunner in the vintage is the 2013 Doyenne Syrah Grand Ciel Vineyard. From one of the top sites in Red Mountain, it sports a deep purple color to go with sumptuous notes of black and blue fruits, graphite, violets and crushed flowers. Rich, full-bodied and concentrated, yet also elegant, balanced and pure, it has no hard edges, sweet tannin and a great finish. It’s beautiful today with a decant, but will have 10-15 years of overall longevity.

JEB DUNNUCK | JUN 2016 | 225, THE WINE ADVOCATE

2012 Grand Ciel Syrah

A similar purple/ruby, semi-opaque color to the Signature Syrah, the 2012 Doyenne Syrah Grand Ciel Vineyard has more minerality (no doubt due to coming from Red Mountain) to go with lots of blackberry, graphite, pepper and crushed violet notes. Like the Signature Syrah, it shows the vintage nicely with lots of concentration, integrated acidity and a big finish, where the wine’s structure becomes more apparent. It will benefit from short-term cellaring and have 10-15 years of overall longevity.

JEB DUNNUCK | Jun 2015 | 219, The Wine Advocate

2011 Grand Ciel Syrah

Slightly richer and more concentrated than the Signature Syrah, yet still playing in the elegant, seamless style of the vintage, the 2011 Doyenne Syrah Grand Ciel Vineyard is 100% Syrah that was aged in 35% new French oak. Possessing beautiful black raspberry, currants, licorice, crushed rock-like minerality and hints of graphite, this beauty flows onto the palate with full-bodied richness, fabulous purity of fruit and a seamless, silky texture that carries through the finish. Give it a year or two and drink bottles through 2024.

JEB DUNNUCK | JUN 2014 | 213, THE WINE ADVOCATE

2010 Grand Ciel Syrah

Up there with the best vintages of this cuvee to date, and slightly more refined than the Signature Syrah, the 2010 Doyenne Syrah Grand Ciel Vineyard is a thrilling effort that boasts first-rate aromatics, superb concentration and an understated elegance that comes out with air. Made from 100% Grand Ciel Vineyard Syrah and aged in 30% new French oak, it delivers notions of smoked raspberries, bacon fat, crushed stone minerality, pepper and violets along with a medium to full-bodied, seamless and perfectly proportioned palate. No complaints from me, and despite the layers of fruit and polish, it possesses a decidedly Old World feel. It can be enjoyed now or cellared for a decade. Drink now-2025.

Jeb Dunnuck | JUN 2013 | 207, The Wine Advocate

2008 Grand Ciel Syrah

A complex and positively animal scent rises from the glass of 2008 Doyenne Syrah Grand Ciel Vineyard, suggesting roasted red meats, smoked meats, and raw liver reminiscent of Cornas. Black tea, black pepper, cherry and cassis add to the impressive aromatic display, and each of these features has its fluid counterpart on a richly-fruited, glossy, full, yet brightly juicy and irresistibly saliva-inducing mid-palate and finish. This superbly complex, glowingly intense, and next sip-compelling Syrah ought to be worth following for ten or a dozen years. (Interestingly, in contrast to most DeLille lots, this relied largely on spontaneous fermentation.)

DAVID SCHILDKNECHT | DEC 2012 | 204, THE WINE ADVOCATE

2007 Grand Ciel Syrah

The 2007 Grand Ciel Vineyard Syrah is a glass-coating opaque purple color. Bigger, richer, and more nuanced than the Signature cuvee, this mouth-coating wine has a finish lasting for 60-seconds. Its drinking window extends from 2013 to 2022.

Jay S Miller | Aug 2011 | 196, The Wine Advocate

2006 Grand Ciel Syrah

The 2006 Syrah Grand Ciel Vineyard also contains 2% Viognier. It offers greater aromatic complexity with its wild berries and herbs, leading to a packed, dense, opulent wine with a sauvage character that should please any Rhone enthusiast. This impeccably balanced, pleasure-bent Syrah will have a drinking window extending from 2011 to 2021.

Jay S Miller | oct 2009 | 185, The Wine Advocate

91

2006 Grand Ciel Syrah

STEPHEN TANZER | NOV 2009 | VINOUS.COM

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2005 Grand Ciel Syrah

Bright medium ruby. Aromatic but youthfully backward nose hints at tar, black olive, pepper and dried herbs. Dense, juicy and sweet, with lovely intensity and definition of flavor. Dark fruit notes are lifted by dried herbs and smoke. Very ripe but not porty. Not an easy style but complex and structured. According to winemaker Chris Peterson, this vineyard is adjacent to Quilceda Creek’s Golitzine Vineyard.

STEPHEN TANZER | NOV 2008 | VINOUS.COM