The Casa Lapostolle 2007 Cuvée Alexandre Syrah is a single vineyard effort. All of the fruit for this offering was sourced at Las Kuras vineyard in the Cachapoal Valley of Chile. This vineyard is farmed using Organic and Biodynamic practices. The grapes were hand picked and hand sorted. Barrel aging occurred over 15 months in French oak; 65% of the barrels were new, 16% once used and 19% twice used. Just fewer than 3,400 cases of this offering were produced. It has a suggested retail price of $30.
The first thing that stands out about this Syrah is the color, it’s as black as night. Violet, berry and smoked meat aromas are each prominent throughout the seductive nose of this Syrah. Flavors of blackberry, blueberry and dark plum are all present in droves throughout the rich, layered and full flavored palate. Both black and white pepper as well as pencil lead, minerals and chicory are each part of the palate along with earth and a final burst of chocolate sauce that lingers at the back of the throat for a nice long while.
This wine ultimately has more in common with its old world counterparts than most new World Syrah. That said though it does display plenty of powerful fruit both upfront and throughout to have some commonalities with its new world brethren. In any case this is a complex, well made wine that shows off how great Chilean Syrah can be when the grapes are grown with care in an appropriate spot, and treated properly once they’re picked. If you enjoy bold, balanced, complex Syrah here’s one to strongly consider.