Kir Yianni Yianakohori – 750ML

Powerful and a bit too funky in its youth, this shows a lot of aromatic nuance (and on the palate as well) from its gamey Syrah. It’s gorgeously constructed, though, with fine precision, a long finish, velvety texture and a real backbone. Maybe the aromatics will fold into this wine with a little more age—or drink this with an appropriate food pairing. All that said, you’ll be hard pressed to find a wine in this issue with a more serious feel at this bargain-level price point. This has the structure to age pretty well, and at least average depth. It actually could use a little time. It took two hours to open up. So, the question then becomes how tolerant you are of the aromatics, assuming it stays just this way. Do you want Northern Rhône or Northern Greece? If it comes together and shows better balance at some point in the near future, it might well be entitled to an uptick in score. In the meanwhile, it is still a nice deal.