Winemaker Notes
The Contender always reminds the winemaker of the flavors and characteristics of wonderful Asian cuisine. Roasted duck, blackberry jam, fig jam, soy, and hoisin sauce mixed with black truffles. It also has sweet notes of marshmallow, crème fraiche, and French vanilla ice cream. This wine shows more secondary and tertiary notes early, with the fruit hidden in the dense core of the wine. The primary notes of fruit are ripe mango and just a hint of blackberry. For the patient collector waiting 5-7 years is the best way to have the wine show itself.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2021 Syrah The Contender is 97% Syrah and 3% Marsanne that was fermented with 30% stems and raised in 25% new puncheons and barrels. Its deeper plum/purple hue is followed by a wild nose of red plums, blueberries, ground pepper, lavender, and violets. With medium to full-bodied richness, a seamless, layered, beautifully balanced mouthfeel, and polished tannins, it's another sensational 2021 that will benefit from just a handful of years in the cellar and have 15 years or more of overall longevity.
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Wine Enthusiast
The elegant and balanced Contender is ahead on points in the fight for best Syrah I've had in awhile. Aromas of warm earth, roast beef, fig compote and crushed caraway seeds lead to flavors of blackberries, espresso, bacon fat and a burst of orange zest on the long finish. Now I'm hungry. Look for gentle acidity and silky tannins.
Editors' Choice -
James Suckling
An intense, savory syrah showing notes of wild berry fruit, olives, oyster shells, charcoal and dried herbs. It’s full-bodied, meaty and delicious, with well-integrated tannins and a nicely focused finish. Drink from 2025.
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Wine Spectator
Dense in structure yet energetic, with brooding blackberry, stony mineral and smoked meat flavors that gather tension toward a moderate tannic grip.
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”
Responsible for some of Washington’s most highly acclaimed wines, the Walla Walla Valley has experienced a surge in popularity in recent years and is home to both historic wineries and younger, up-and-coming producers.
The Walla Walla Valley, a Native American name meaning “many waters,” is located in southeastern Washington; part of the appellation actually extends into Oregon. Soils here are well-drained, sandy loess over Missoula Flood deposits and fractured basalt.
It is a region perfectly suited to Rhône-inspired Syrahs, distinguished by savory notes of red berry, black olive, smoke and fresh earth. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot create a range of styles from smooth and supple to robust and well-structured. White varieties are rare but some producers blend Sauvignon Blanc with Sémillon, resulting in a rich and round style, and plantings of Viognier, while minimal, are often quite successful.
Of note within Walla Walla, is one new and very peculiar appellation, called the Rocks District of Milton-Freewater. This is the only AVA in the U.S. whose boundaries are totally defined by the soil type. Soils here look a bit like those in the acclaimed Rhône region of Chateauneuf-du-Pape, but are large, ancient, basalt cobblestones. These stones work in the same way as they do in Chateauneuf, absorbing and then radiating the sun's heat up to enhance the ripening of grape clusters. The Rocks District is within the part of Walla Walla that spills over into Oregon and naturally excels in the production of Rhône varieties like Syrah, as well as the Bordeaux varieties.