Two wines opened over the last few evenings with dinner. Many thanks to Eric Texier for making these fantastic, classical Syrahs at such reasonable prices.
2010 Éric Texier St. Joseph Vieilles Vignes La Croix
More open-knit and accessible than the 2009 Texier St. Joseph; this comes across a little lighter and more finessed with the same elegant flavours of red fruits tinged with smoky and peppery accents, but the tannin this vintage isn't as pronounced and there's more acidity here, giving it a greater sense of freshness and lightness. Right now it's still incredibly primary and dominated by its fruit, but I'm looking forward to seeing what'll happen to my other bottles with time.
2009 Éric Texier Côtes du Rhône-Brézème Vieille Serine Domaine de Pergaud
Rather tight and tannic at first, but this transforms over 3 hours in a decanter, showing a beautiful perfume of savoury smoky, meaty and floral elements around a core of fresh pepper-tinged Syrah fruit. There's a sense of real purity and finesse to the flavours, great depth and persistence and I'm glad to have more (though my remaining bottles will be buried away for some time).