2001 Syrah trocken, Pfalz, Germany

Concentrated nose, strong roasted notes, and still dominated by oak, with lots of pepper and spice, as well as raspberries, blackberries and cherries in the background. Very cool fruit with smoky, roasted notes, at first quite tart, lively acidity, mineral impression on the palate, powerful, fine-grained, slightly astringent tannins, initial impression is that it lacks fruit, it takes hours of aeration for the oak to recede a little, and reveal the high-quality base, which then becomes increasingly juicy, with complex spice and increasingly evident mineral notes, great persistence, excellent structure and length. This will have to mature for a number of years, and may possibly never fully integrate the oak, but the fruit component is great. The tremendously dominant oak caused me to totally underestimate this wine in the first hours after opening the bottle. Leave this wine to mature for a long time, or decant it and give it lots of time for aeration.

Best to drink: 2006-2012. What our ratings mean