2015 Efeste Syrah Jolie Bouche

(15.2% alcohol): Saturated dark ruby. Deep, varietally expressive scents of blackberry, violet, brown spices, menthol and a whiff of smoked meat. Densely packed but not heavy, showing a lovely sugar/acid balance for such a ripe wine. Highly concentrated, slightly savory Syrah with terrific dark berry and spice intensity. There's a ripeness verging on chocolatey here but this wine shows less gamey character than its 2014 sibling as it's more wound up in the early going. Not as sweet or pliant as the Mourvedre today, and more medicinal and youthfully aggressive on the firmly tannic back end, but the wine's strong, rising finish suggests it will evolve slowly and well.