Another Lampyres wine. As I mentioned a few posts ago, I’m slowly working my way through their range. So far, none of them have disappointed. Spoiler alert: This one doesn’t either.
I might have held back in reviewing this, to spread out the Lampyres reviews a bit more, but TY was visiting, and I thought she’d like to try it. So we did.
This one also makes me think I may need to add another category to my reviews, in addition to Overall and Visual. Unusual? Surprising-ness? Something like that. You’ll see why.
It turns out I was complete idiot, somehow, when taking photos, and managed to take random pictures when trying to get the picture of the wine in the glass. And no, I do the pictures before I start the tasting. So, I’ve added a slightly different picture, so you don’t feel like you’re being short-changed.
In the glass
Dark ruby. Lots of purple around the edges. It’s wine, is my ranking. Nothing to complain about or find fault with, but unremarkable. There’s not a lot more I can say about the appearance. Based on the appearance, I move on, expecting a fairly typical Syrah.
The nose
‘Ooohh…..’ That’s TY’s first reaction. Mine is: ‘Dang! I can smell it! Blackberries.’ (I didn’t actually say ‘dang.’ I’ve bowderlised myself for the more sensitive readers. I think I actually said / thought: ‘Holy Shit!’) TY opines that they are very ripe blackberries. I pick up some black cherries, I think. A sort of dark and sweet smell to it. TY wonders if she smells a bit of yeastiness.
The palate
Much lighter than I expected, give the colour and knowing it was Syrah. And there’s petillance. TY agrees on this, and, most remarkably, can read my notes upside down. At least the ‘petillance’ part. This is remarkable since I can’t always read my own writing right-side up. But I digress.
Looking over my notes, I see I was so taken with the mouthfeel and the petillance that I didn’t even note the fruits on the palate. Basically, much the same as the nose, but with a red-shift. The whole thing is lighter than I expected. It has a nice, lifting acidity to it. The tannins are there, but just sort of doing what they do, and not getting in the way. A decent finish.
In short, it’s nothing like what I expected going in. I was expecting something much more in line with the colour, a heavier Syrah. In fact, this is so unexpected, TY and I do some googling around, and pretty much everyone has a different listing for what the blend is. (We somehow missed the ‘Syrah’ on the label, although to be fair, it was in the corner.) Some think it’s a GSM blend, others think Syrah / Carignan. In the end, I message the winemaker, FX, as he’s known, who confirms it’s 100% Syrah.
This really has to be the most surprising wine – in a good way – that I’ve drunk in quite some time. It makes me think I may need a new rating category.
Rating
It’s Wine on visuals, with Yummy-plus overall. If you wanted to argue for Yummy-plus-double-good I wouldn’t put up much of a fight. This would go well with cheese. Goat or sheep’s milk cheeses, if you want more specificity. It would also make a nice barbeque wine. (‘posh barbeque’ interjects TY.) Think grilled aubergine, if you are a vegetarian. Sausage or lamb burgers, if you aren’t.
Sustainability
Organic. Low-intervention. Wild yeasts, unfined, unfiltered. Hand-harvested. Minimal sulphites added at bottling.
The technical info and such
12.0% , 100% Syrah. £24.99 from Cambridge Wine Merchants
(Note: edited later on 6 Sept. to catch some typos and missing words.)