Out of the nose you get leather and the promise of fruit, but you don’t really get any. Or not much, anyway. You can tell it’s there. It’s just not yet ready to party.

It keeps quiet when poured, but does get ornery if you try drinking it right away. It’s a little abusive on the mouth, tingling your tongue and grabbing at your cheeks like there’s a gerbil in your mouth -- an ornery gerbil.

So, shove the varmint back in the bottle and wait a day. On day two, the first thing you get is mocha out of the nose. That’s a dramatic improvement from when first opened, and made better by there being more fruit present. Deep, dark, damn near black fruit. The wonderful black pepper and still present leather doesn’t hurt, either.

Taste it today, and you get a richer, lusher mouthfeel thanks to some mellowed acidity. There’s loads of black fruit (black cherry, black berry). The tannins are still pretty strong, and though mellower, the acidity is still more than noticeable. But, this wealthy, formerly ornery, formerly quiet and once miserly gerbil is now nearly tame and pet-worthy.

Just make sure to take home the gerbil and not the quiet drunk. Then, let it out of its cage in about three years.

Cheers,
TSW

This wine is like the burly, drunk guy at the bar. It’s really big and muscular, and it needs some time to sort itself out.

However, it’s not belligerent and disorderly. It won’t take an unprovoked swing at you. Rather, it’s the kind of drunk that gets quiet and keeps things to itself.

Right out of the gate, this Chilean syrah is tight with bright acidity and some cheek-pulling tannins. Everything about its first impression suggests that it would have rather been left alone.

It’s obviously rich but also miserly. When you first open it, this wine isn’t giving anything away.