2018 Halcon Vineyards Syrah Alturas- USA, California, North Coast, Yorkville Highlands (11/11/2020)
I opened a Halcon wine the other night, and enjoyed it so much that I had to open another one tonight. This time a straight Syrah did the trick, versus a GSM blend on Monday. I swear these wines are at least somewhat inspired by the work of Steve Edmunds. The varietal signature is clear, with black pepper, black fruit and a hint of road tar, but there’s an essence hovering over the top that is impossible to peg as Syrah. It’s not a grape, it’s a place. I don’t know the Yorkville Highlands area well enough to be sure it’s really that, but it sure seems like a site at elevation - there’s a space between the elements that grapes grown at altitude often show to me. It’s not a smashed together melange, but a carefully curated scene of living air, water, earth, and the things that grow.
Great note David. I recently tried my first Halcon Alturas courtesy of a friend, and split a mixed Halcon case thereafter. I thought it punched way above its weight class and really showed great skill capturing the place, as you say. I plan on being a regular customer in the future.
Not only is it at elevation, it’s one of the highest vineyards outside of the Sierra foothills. Rhys and Ridge Monte Bello are at elevation, but Halcon is even higher, I believe.
Love these wines as well. The winemaking/understanding of site/vine age has increased the quality of these wines over the last decade. The earlier versions were all good, and are still drinking well, but you can see the improvements. Paul and Jackie are great people; glad to see this success!
Here are some notes on a vertical of Alturas I did a few years back…
I have the 2017 Alturas in my cellar, but didn’t purchase any of the '18, but I did get the Elevacion, Esquito, and PS this last release. Your note makes me think I need to try and fine some '18 Alturas soon.
2018 Halcon Vineyards Syrah Alturas - USA, California, North Coast, Yorkville Highlands (3/6/2023)
– decanted 45 min. before initial taste –
– tasted non-blind over 2.5 hrs. on Day 1; revisited on Days 2 and 7 –
NOSE: savory; tons of freshly-cracked black pepper; rich and complex.
BODY: medium-light to medium bodied.
TASTE: high acidity – nearly a touch tingly; tannic; purple-fruited — soil & plums; very savory/stemmy/peppery; wouldn’t mind if the savory/stemmy-type note recedes somewhat with age. Day 2: pepper notes turning to garrigue & Kalamata olive now, but this is largely the same as on Day 1. Day 7: not appreciably different than on previous days. 13.4% alc. is well-hidden. This strikes me as a wine that will age on its acidity and tannins more than anything else — I’m not sure it has the fruit to go super long, but a couple decades wouldn’t surprise me. For my preferences, this is a Hold for now.
Simply a result of not finishing it on Day 1. If subsequent meals don’t pair well with whatever wine may be leftover then the wine just sits, recorked, in the fridge until an appropriate meal happens. This dynamic explains nearly all of my post-Day 2 TNs. I will commonly go out of my way to hold some of a young wine back for Day 2 to see if/how it evolves, but anything along the lines of Day 4, 7, 13, etc. is a byproduct of this dynamic I just described.
