Charles Smith Wines Royal City Syrah 2009
Syrah/Shiraz
-
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert
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You purchased this 4/23/24
Product Details
Varietal
Producer
Vintage
2009
Size
750ML
Features
Collectible
Boutique
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
"Man this is it! Wow! You name it, it's got it. Hickory, black cherry, Venezuelan chocolate, pie crust, camphor, beeswax and suede. It is complex. It is elegant. It is Royal City." - Charles Smith
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Supple, rich and complex, this is a towering, majestic wine layered with floral, mineral and exotic spice character around a core of meaty black cherry, licorice and maple flavors. It all comes together seamlessly on the long, expressive finish. Drink now through 2020.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Representing the fourth installment of a wine designed to showcase what he treats as his Cinderella vineyard (though it's not actually his), with whose Syrah vines as he puts it "we hit it out of the ballpark already with the first vintage," Smith's 2009 Syrah Stoneridge Vineyard Royal City combines amazing density of sappy cassis, cherry concentrate, bitter huckleberry, licorice and road tar with vibratory impingement of brown spices, citrus rind, brined anchovy, and some je ne sais quoi that, as with numerous other Washington behemoths, it manages to pull from an environmental stock of energy. All of that said, you'll have to really like the particular flavors on exhibit here to want to imbibe them at this level of near-overwhelming concentration; overnight the only change I noted was the emergence of a faintly caramelized and rancid note from oak; and whether the strong tannins that lurk beneath this wine's sweet, viscous, tarry surface will remain well-blanketed as it evolves in bottle only time can tell. (I'll hope to taste one of the four previous vintages of Royal City next year, but even so, wine built to this scale must count as very young still at only age six or less.) Naturally it hasn't escaped me that most of my fellow critics have praised these Royal City wines as if they represented the proverbial Shining City on the Hill of Syrah, and some friends I especially respect have written eloquently of their virtues. I guess I have to part ways with them in the degree of excitement I find myself able to muster for an, as yet at least, rather amorphous syrup of Syrah, even one so startlingly shot through with virtual lightning bolts of energy. But, as already suggested, I'll hope to find out what precipitates from this big, dark vinous storm cloud over the years.
Other Vintages
2012-
Parker
Robert
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Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spectator
Wine
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Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine
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Enthusiast
Wine -
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
First there was K Vintners, then the Magnificent Wine Company and now winemaker Charles Smith brings you his latest revelation. Charles Smith Wines: The Modernist Project is a response to how people generally consume wine today, that is immediately…as in immediately after being purchased at a market, restaurant or bar, to be drunk straight away. Wine in this category is typically either simple, or is a wine that would be much better a few years down the road. 'Modernist Project' wines are about putting as much into the bottle as possible. The intent is to create wines to be enjoyed now, but with typicity with regards to variety—that is merlot that tastes like merlot—and to the vineyard—wine that tastes like where it was grown. The wines are full of flavor, balanced, and true to their place of origin.
DBT121459_2009 Item# 121459