98-99 Point Wines

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As is common with this wine, the 2007 Bionic Frog is showing even better now than on release and offers up a ripe, dense, and meaty profile that has more in common with the ‘08 than the structured and firm ’09. It has aromas of peppered beef, green peppercorns, lavender, bacon fat, and the expected minerality giving way to a full-bodied, layered, and perfectly put together palate that has a decadent, thick texture, superb balance, and a blockbuster finish. Hard to fault and this is a profound Syrah that will benefit from an additional 2-3 years of bottle age, and drink beautifully for 20 years or more.Jeb Dunnuck | 99 JDOften considered the iconic Cayuse wine, this bears the cartoonish label with the leering frog, though it is a single-vineyard offering like the others. Initially showing some fat and sweetness, it is supple and textural, with the density that comes from a mix of flavors: pain grillé, smoke, umami, fungus, coffee grounds and dark fruits. A richly organic compendium of scents and flavors, with black tea tannins.Wine Enthusiast | 98 WEThis is holding on beautifully with subtle meat, spice and tea aromas as well as ripe fruits. Full-bodied, layered and very flavorful with fantastic depth and length. Superb wine. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 97 JSLike the 2007 Cailloux Vineyard, the 2007 Syrah Bionic Frog is perfumed and complex, with gorgeous garrigue, dried flowers, olive tapenade and liquid rock aromas balanced nicely by a core of sweet red and black raspberry fruit. I’d like to see more mid-palate depth here, but this is pure silk on the palate and it shows the sexy, supple nature of the vintage beautifully. Possessing lots of polished tannin, beautifully pure fruit and no shortage of length, it’s a beautiful wine to enjoy anytime over the coming decade.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 96 RPThis has tremendous presence, graceful but forceful, playing out its flavors of plum, currant, black pepper and licorice against a background that hints at warm granite, cinnamon bark and bay leaf. Complex and harmonious. Drink now through 2020. 476 cases made.Wine Spectator | 95 WS(14.9% alcohol; harvested on September 18): Full, deep red. Wild aromas of raspberry, black olive tapenade, leather, meat and brown sugar, plus a mushroom nuance. Rich, plush, hugely mouthfilling wine with extravagant flavors of black raspberry, pepper, salami, leather and porcini; this bottle is crying out for a hunk of (raw) meat. Boasts outstanding sweetness and a great spreading, horizontal finish featuring substantial dusty tannins. From a very warm year that was affected by some rain in the middle of the harvest, but Baron told me he picked these vines first (as is typically the case), before the precipitation.Vinous Media | 94 VM

Deep, meaty, and incredibly savory, the 2009 Cayuse Syrah Bionic Frog is dark ruby/purple and offers up a knockout, textbook northern Rhône bouquet of meaty black cherry fruit, pan drippings, bacon fat, peat moss, ground pepper, and searing minerality. Every bit as good on the palate, this full-bodied, structured Syrah is gorgeously concentrated and rich, while at the same time, staying very light on the palate, with brilliant focus, precision, and length. It’s the most firm and structured of the ‘09s, without much baby fat, and needs lots of air to shows at its best. It will ideally be given 3-5 years of bottle age, and should have two decades of longevity.Jeb Dunnuck | 98+ JDLike the 2009 Cailloux, the 2009 Syrah Bionic Frog was closed aromatically, yet offered incredible depth, richness and purity on the palate. Reluctantly giving up lots of dark fruits, chocolate, mineral and roasted herbs, as well as more exotic notes of blood orange and mint, this inky colored, full-bodied, beautifully concentrated Syrah should be forgotten for 3-4 years, yet will have 20 years or more of overall longevity.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97+ RPThe Frog is a bit reductive, a bit shy in 2009 and needs extra decanting. With proper breathing time, it shows inviting notes of violets and strawberries, and it gains concentration through the midpalate, with additions of cherry and an almost liquid minerality. An almost delicate version of this wine.Wine Enthusiast | 95 WEFocused, with nice density to the juicy blueberry and black plum flavors, hinting at black pepper, Lapsang souchong tea and tar as the finish sails on and on. Shows presence and depth, deftly balanced on the finish. Drink now through 2019. 437 cases made.Wine Spectator | 94 WS(14.7% alcohol; picked on September 22): Dark red-ruby. Fresh but a bit stunted on the nose, hinting at olive tapenade, truffle, black pepper, furry game and Herbes de Provence (Baron mentioned "hare entrails"). Wonderfully juicy, sweet and ripe but also firmly built and powerful, and not yet showing the compelling smoky, earthy complexity of the more recent vintages. Notes of chocolate and menthol convey a hot-year character but there’s still plenty of verve here, not to mention brooding black raspberry fruit that needs more time in bottle to express itself and expand. Finishes very long, with building tannins. This wine was very tight when I originally tasted it back in 2012 and it’s every bit as inscrutable today.Vinous Media | 92+ VM

The 2021 Andremily No. 10, tasted as a barrel sample, is a blend of 93% Syrah, 5% Mourvedre, and 2% Viognier, fermented using 50% whole clusters and to be aged for around 22 months in French oak barriques, 65% new. The color is a deep purple black. Baked plums, boysenberry preserves, and fruitcake leap from the glass, followed by suggestions of garrigue, peppered salami, and cracked black pepper with a hint of aniseed. Full, rich, firm, and grainy, the palate is lively, muscular, long and peppery. Around 100 cases and a few magnums will be bottled in August 2023.The Wine Independent | 96-98 TWIThe 2021 No. 10 is a blend of 93% Syrah, 5% Mourvèdre and 2% Viognier. Grapes come from several vineyards, including Andremily’s new Slide Hill estate in Edna Valley, White Hawk, Larner, Harrison-Clarke, Kimsey and Alta Mesa Vineyards in Santa Barbara County. It was vinified with 50% whole clusters and matured for around 22 months in 65% new French barriques. Bottled August 12 and tasted October 25, it boasts a supermassive black hole of dark, perfumed fruit at the core. With time in the glass, it reveals pure accents of mint chocolate, vanilla bean, olives, lilac, tar and botanical nuances. The palate is incredibly concentrated, its graphite-laced fruit waiting to explode. All that depth of fruit is balanced by fireworks of fresh acidity and velvety tannins, and it has a highly latent finish. 900 cases were made, which will be sold as part of a three-bottle box set for $330. A few magnums were also made, which will be sold as part of a two-bottle set with the 2021 Mourvèdre.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97+ RPLastly, the Syrah-dominated 2021 No 10 reveals a dense purple hue as well as a wild bouquet of blueberries, wild strawberries, ground pepper, game, iron, and assorted floral, meaty nuances. Stunningly complex even at this young age, this beauty hits the palate with full-bodied richness, a pure, layered, seamless mouthfeel, ample tannins and underlying structure, and a finish that won’t quit. It will clearly be a match for the 2020, and this puppy is going to flirt with perfection at maturity.Jeb Dunnuck | 97 JDThe 2021 Andremily No. 10 is one of the finest wines I have tasted at Andremily. Vibrant, focused and explosive, the 2021 possesses tremendous energy from start to finish. Dark red cherry, red plum, rose petal, cinnamon and new leather are some of the many notes that build as the 2021 opens in the glass. This is seriously impressive.Vinous Media | 94-96 VM