Sine Qua Non Syrah 2023 Distenta V

- 100 Punkte VINOUS: „Bottled only three weeks before this tasting, the 2023 Grenache Distenta V is deeply aromatic and exquisitely pure, a wine of both sensuality and structure. Crushed stones, gravel and graphite infuse the palate with mineral intensity, while lavender, blood orange and macerated cherry notes quietly build layers of nuance. A spine of fine tannin carries the 2023 through a taut, finely chiseled finish, accentuated by the inclusion of 25% whole clusters that bring attractive spice. Elegant, persistent and beautifully integrated, this is a Grenache of clarity and poise. The blend is 81.8% Grenache, 8.6% Mourvèdre, 7.7% Syrah, 1.3% Muscat and 0.6% Petit Manseng.“

- 100 Punkte The Wine Palate:  „The 2023 Syrah Distenta V is blended with 85.8% Grenache, 3.7% Petite Sirah, 3.3% Mourvèdre, and dollops of Petit Manseng and Muscat. It was matured for 23 months in French oak, 63% new, and 11% whole clusters were employed. Very deep purple-black in color, the nose is a little shy to start, opening out to a beguiling perfume of roses, tar, juicy black cherries, and warm plums, plus hints of lavender and damp soil. Full-bodied, the palate is bright and shiny with fragrant floral notes accenting the intense, crunchy black fruit layers, textured with firm, grainy tannins, finishing long and perfumed.“

- 98 Punkte JEB DUNNUCK: „The 2023 Syrah Distenta V comes from the estate’s The Third Twin, Cumulus, and Eleven Confessions vineyards and is a blend of 85.8% Syrah, 5.5% Grenache, 3.7% Petite Sirah, 3.3% Mourvèdre, and the rest white varieties. Fermented with 11% whole clusters and aged 23 months in 63% new French oak, it displays a deep purple hue and offers dark blackberries, cracked pepper, violets, flowers, and leather. This is a darker, focused, peppery, full-bodied style that’s beautifully balanced with the fresher, focused character of the vintage.“

Bewertungen für den Jahrgang 2022:
- 99 Punkte JEB DUNNUCK (04/2025): “The 2022 Syrah Distenta IV is a blend of 83% Syrah, 6% Grenache, 5% Petite Sirah, and the rest Mourvèdre and white varieties. It sports a dense purple hue and offers stunning aromatics of ripe blue fruits, framboise, liquid violets, white pepper, game, bouquet garni, and spice. These carry to the palate of a full-bodied Syrah that’s concentrated yet balanced, with a broad, layered mouthfeel, velvety tannins, and a great finish. I was able to follow this bottle over multiple days, and it only improved with air, gaining both complexity and texture. While this is clearly a more accessible vintage compared to the 2021s, it still deserves 3-4 years in bottle and should have 15-20 years of prime drinking given its balance, purity, and harmony. Drink 2028-2045.“

- 96-98 Punkte JEB DUNNUCK (08/2024): Incorporating 6% Grenache, 5% Petite Sirah, 3% Mourvèdre, and 3% white varieties, the 2022 Syrah Distenta IV is another ripe, layered, full-bodied 2022 that’s going to deliver the goods. Ample blue fruits, kirsch liqueur, pepper, and tons of spicy notes all shine here, and this puppy has a layered, velvety mouthfeel, beautiful tannins, no hard edges, and awesome length. It's going to shine right out of the gate and is a good counterpoint to the more focused, cooler styled 2021s.“

- 96,5 Punkte VINOUS, Antonio Galloni (07/2024): „The 2022 Syrah Distenta IV is a potent, tightly wound wine. Interestingly, the Syrah is also much less accessible than the Grenache in this vintage. Readers will have to be patient with the Distenta IV as it is not all forthcoming, its notable textural richness notwithstanding. I tasted the 2022 from a sample prepared just prior to bottling. I expect the finished wine to be more giving. Dollops of Grenache, Petite Sirah, Mourvèdre, Muscat and Petit Manseng round out the blend. The last pick was on October 31. 2026-2037“

- 94+ Punkte R. Parkers WINE ADVOCATE, Matthew Laczy (08/2024): „The 2022 Syrah Distenta IV contains 6% Grenache, 5% Petite Sirah, 3.3% Mourvèdre and a small amount of Petit Manseng and Muscat. It was aged 23 months in 56% new French oak and fermented with 31% whole clusters. The nose opens with weighty, smoldering, blue-fruited aromas with pleasantly lifted notes of fennel, anise and white pepper quickly building in intensity. The palate is plush, opulent and immensely extracted, wrapped in a suave, precise texture that gives way to a taut, inward finish that unfolds similarly to the nose. While I suspect this will gain additional depth and complexity after a year or two, the style of these wines makes their youthful hedonism quite tempting—and there will be more than enough of that to make this enjoyable from its release in January 2025 on.
The recent and upcoming releases from Sine Qua Non, Next of Kyn and The Third Twin will no doubt delight fans of these wines, and I wholeheartedly recommend devotees seek them out or purchase as much of their hard-won allocations as possible. That said, while the wines are exactingly made and generally impressive on a technical level, their larger-than-life scale and, at times, lofty alcohol levels limit the harmony and complexity they currently deliver or will ever attain. A few premises are essential to keep in focus while reviewing wines of this style so as not to allow sheer size and density to run away with the show: more does not necessarily equal better, and bold but simple flavors cannot match the dimension of many more nuanced ones. The originality of these wines is palpable throughout every aspect of the project, however, and readers who enjoy pyrotechnically impressive blockbuster wines will find them in spades.