Colgin, IX Estate Syrah 2016
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Description
Tasting notes

At just past seven years of age, Colgin's 2016 Syrah IX Estate is beginning to show some development. There's an appealing touch of hickory smoke and hints of black olive that lend a more savory aspect to this vintage, joining notes of plum, mocha and dark chocolate on the nose, while the full-bodied palate is rich and yet so supple and beautifully integrated as to seem almost weightless on the lingering, licorice-tinged finish. It should continue to drink well through 2040.

The 2016 Syrah IX Estate is dense, super-powerful and concentrated. In 2016, the Syrah is first and foremost a wine of IX Estate. Dark and brooding in the glass, with tremendous fruit intensity, the 2016 is superb. Varietal aromatics carry through to the energetic, vivid finish.

Colgin's 2016 Syrah literally tastes like it was just drained from tank. The Syrah at Colgin is usually slow to come around. I imagine I caught it at an awkward stage given how well the other wines in this tasting showed. There is plenty of depth, but the elements still need time to fuse together.
About the Producer
Colgin Cellars was founded in the year 1992 by Ann Colgin, a true renaissance woman, who originally began her career in fine arts. Her aim with the winery was to produce small quantities of artisanal wines through a kind of Burgundy approach to winemaking, from the hillside vineyards of St. Helena in Napa Valley, California. Throughout the decades that followed, Ann Colgin and her husband Joe Wender purchased a series of hand-picked vineyards, including the Tychson estate and the IX Estate, which is today where the Colgin Cellars winery can be found. Colgin Cellars currently produces wine from three principle areas of the St. Helena AVA - the IX Estate, Tychson Hill and Cariad Vineyards. At the 20-acre IX Estate Vineyard, referred to as "wine nirvana," vines of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Syrah and Petit Verdot grow in volcanic and gravel soils, producing a Bordeaux style blend, as well as an excellent single-varietal Syrah in the style of the Northern Rhone. At Cariad Vineyards, the team produces a Bordeaux style red blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, named "Cariad." And in the Tychson Hill Vineyard, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot grow in Aiken Very Stone Loam soils, which give the wines from here unique earthy, floral aromas. Colgin Cellars produces a range of red wines which have earned the estate a cult following. These Napa Valley wines have received 100-point ratings from Robert Parker for 5 different vintages. As the production remains quite low (around the same as that of Petus, or roughly 50,000 bottles per year) and the demand is always high, these wines are extremely rare and difficult to find. In 2017, the LVMH luxury giant and owner of Château d'Yquem, Dom Pérignon, Cloudy Bay and Château Cheval Blanc to name a few, bought 60% of the shares in the domain and became majority shareholder in the estate.
| Vintage | Packing | Offers | Bids | Market Price | WA Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 12 x 75cl | 0 | 0 | 27195 | |
| 2002 | 3 x 75cl | 0 | 0 | 6798.75 | |
| 2003 | 12 x 75cl | 0 | 0 | 29395.32 | |
| 2003 | 3 x 75cl | 0 | 0 | 7348.83 | |
| 2004 | 12 x 75cl | 0 | 0 | 29746.68 | |
| 2004 | 3 x 75cl | 0 | 0 | 7436.67 | |
| 2006 | 3 x 75cl | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2007 | 12 x 75cl | 0 | 0 | 26670.84 | |
| 2007 | 3 x 75cl | 0 | 0 | 6667.71 | |
| 2008 | 12 x 75cl | 0 | 0 | 27427.44 | |
| 2008 | 3 x 75cl | 0 | 0 | 6856.86 | |
| 2009 | 12 x 75cl | 0 | 0 | 22360.8 | |
| 2009 | 3 x 75cl | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2010 | 12 x 75cl | 0 | 0 | 54138.24 | |
| 2010 | 3 x 75cl | 0 | 0 | 13534.56 | |
| 2010 | 6 x 75cl | 0 | 0 | 27069.12 | |
| 2011 | 3 x 75cl | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2012 | 3 x 75cl | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2012 | 6 x 75cl | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2013 | 3 x 75cl | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2014 | 12 x 75cl | 0 | 0 | 30429.12 | |
| 2014 | 3 x 75cl | 1 | 0 | 7607.28 | |
| 2015 | 3 x 75cl | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2016 | 1 x 75cl | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2016 | 12 x 75cl | 0 | 0 | 34391.76 | |
| 2016 | 3 x 75cl | 2 | 0 | 8597.94 | |
| 2017 | 1 x 75cl | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2017 | 3 x 75cl | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2018 | 3 x 75cl | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2019 | 12 x 75cl | 0 | 0 | 38086.32 | |
| 2019 | 3 x 75cl | 1 | 0 | 9521.58 | |
| 2021 | 3 x 75cl | 1 | 0 |