Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

The 2015 Syrah Sur Echalas Vineyard is just as striking as its Grenache sibling, unfurling with an equally complex nose of sweet cassis, beef blood, bitter cocoa, peony and violets, with notions of grilled meat and truffle emerging with time. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied and amazingly intense, with a deep and multidimensional core framed by remarkably satiny, layered tannins, concluding with a long, saline finish. (WK)

Of these three offerings from Horsepower, the 2015 Syrah The Tribe Vineyard will require the most time, as it's the most tight-knit at this early stage, slowly unwinding in the glass with savory aromas of raw cocoa, tapenade, nori and ripe blackberries. On the palate, it's full-bodied, deep and concentrated, with a rich chassis of satiny structuring tannins and a layered, umami-laden core of fruit. At 13.6% alcohol, it's also beautifully balanced. (WK)

Another soot, tar, mineral, bacon fat and smoked dark fruit driven beauty is the 2014 Syrah Sur Echalas Vineyard. Made from 100% Syrah, this peppery, bloody, iodine, full-bodied, concentrated effort has building tannin, a great mid-palate and a salt-laced finish. It's another unique, singular beauty that's going to benefit from short term cellaring and keep for two decades. (JD)

From a site that's next to En Chamberlin that's planted with a 4x4 spacing (the Sur Echalas is 3x3), the 2014 Syrah The Tribe Vineyard offers more fruit (blackberry, black cherry) as well as beautiful notes of violets, rose petal, pepper and earth. Fermented with 100% whole clusters and aged in neutral puncheons, this full-bodied beauty has fine tannin, juicy acidity and a great finish. It's in direct contrast to the more masculine, meaty, umami style of the Sur Echalas Vineyard. Give it 2-3 years and it too will be long lived! (JD)

The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon has a ripe nose with a precise core of generous, healthy and robust red and black fruits. Bursting from the glass, chocolate-covered black cherries with elegant blackberry tones effortlessly strut their stuff next to seductive tones of French oak spices and subtle savory and floral tones. Full-bodied, the wine turns a touch tart in the mouth, with a focused acid structure balanced by lush tannins. The mid-palate is perfectly balanced, with rich dark cherry notes framing the oak expressions.

A powerful wine that bears the stamp of the vintage, the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon offers up aromas of minty crème de cassis, blackberries, dark chocolate and spice, framed by a lavish application of toasty new oak. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, ample and heady, with a generous core of ripe, liqueur-like fruit, a fine-grained chassis of tannins and a long, heavily oak-inflected finish.

The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon is another tour de force from this estate that's reminiscent of first growth Bordeaux from a vintage like 2009. Made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon and aged in new barrels, it offers incredible notes of blackcurrants, graphite, lead pencil shavings and crushed rocks in a full-bodied, decadent, insanely layered and seamless style. This beauty possesses ultra-fine tannin, no hard edges and a forward, already hard to resist style, yet it's going to keep for more than two decades. (JD)

The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon is deep garnet with a touch of purple and exudes pure black truffles on the nose to begin, slowly unfurling to reveal a core of black cherries, warm blackcurrants and plum preserves with suggestions of eucalyptus, tilled soil, chargrill and new leather. Medium-bodied with a great intensity of earth-tinged black fruits, it has a firm frame of grainy tannins and a long truffle-laced finish. (LPB)

The 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon is deep garnet colored and opens with a nose that is just begging to be drunk, featuring warm cassis, charcuterie, molten chocolate, wild mushrooms and roasted nuts with nuances of cigar box, incense and menthol. Medium-bodied, the palate reveals beautiful intensity and depth, sporting very fine-grained, exquisitely ripe tannins and finishing with plenty of savory layers and a peppery kick. (LPB)

Deep garnet colored, the 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon leaps from the glass with notions of minted cassis, chocolate box, rose hip tea and forest floor over a core of kirsch, Black Forest cake, dried Mediterranean herbs and mossy bark. Medium-bodied, lithe and refreshing in the mouth, the palate has wonderful freshness and a lovely mineral-tinged finish. Still very youthful. (LPB)