You may think of this as a true “Reserve”, in the traditional sense of the term: the richest, densest, sometime wildest or most intense wine of the year is put away for an extended time in cooperage to mellow out and acquire additional complexity and nuance in the process. It is then aged further in bottle prior to release, until it reaches the desired level of harmony and finesse. This Reserve of ours was bottled aged for 5-1/2 years in bottle prior to its release on June 1, 2016.
The Old Man’s Reserve Syrah is a wine of large proportions: full bodied, concentrated, powerful and mouth-filling. It has good acidity, ripe fruit, and a lot of complexity and depth. Although its alcohol level is higher than most Clos Saron wines (14.1%), it is not a Shiraz-look-alike, it is not sweet and thick. Its spice, acidity, and mineral backbone give it the necessary uplift to keep it light on its feet.
This has the potential to age further for decades.