Shafer Relentless 2021

A supersaturated, deep, almost thick wine that coats the mouth with potent dark fruit flavors and wraps them in a full body and firm, gripping tannins that need time to resolve. It's syrah with a 3% boost of petite sirah, bringing all the deep color, dark blue fruit and peppery spices of the Rhone. Grilled meat, charcoal and dried blackberries, too. Best from 2030.

Another gorgeous wine in the lineup is the 2021 Relentless, a Syrah-dominated red delivering awesome red, blue, and black fruits supported by ground pepper, bacon fat, and chocolaty notes. It shows the vintage's purity and has full-bodied richness, ripe tannins, and a great finish.

The 2021 Relentless is a potent, brooding wine. Dark cherry, plum, licorice, cloves, game, scorched earth and black pepper explode onto the palate. Swaths of tannin wrap it all together. This intense, structured Syrah-based blend clearly needs a few years in bottle to be at its best. It's pretty impressive, even in the early going. The 2021 spent six more months in barrel than originally projected because of the delayed 2023 harvest. My impression today is that the extra time in wood robbed the wine of some freshness.

This full-bodied syrah captures robust structure and brooding tones from a splash of Petite Sirah. Integrated oak spices and layers of flavor wash the palate with persistent tannins and a very long finish.