With a dinner of mesquite-grilled ribeye steaks, Jean pulled the title bottle from the cellar, which proved to be an excellent choice.
c: garnet with a hint of brick at the edge n: initially reticent, opening with time to show smoke, game, minerals, cedar, and dark fruit p: acidic on entry, and initially a touch thin, rounding out later and turning into a medium-full bodied wine with good depth of fruit and a hint of gaminess.
This was the regular (low level) Crozes from Graillot from a year that has been largely overlooked in the wake of '98-'00. Very nice now, with no overt tannins, it clearly is not as profound as his Guiraude but still a very good Syrah for the $16 I paid for it.
Mark Lipton