Betz Family Winery Domaine de Pierres Syrah 2016
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Jeb
Dunnuck -
James
Suckling -
Robert
Parker
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
From a new site purchased in 2014 (it was planted in 2006), the 2016 Syrah Ancient Stones is still aging in 228-liter barrels. It offers beautiful tobacco, plums, dried flower and lavender notes as well as a rich, full-bodied, pure, elegant, layered style on the palate. It's another singular effort from the Rocks region of Walla Walla that's going to age beautifully.
Barrel Sample: 93-96 -
James Suckling
The strident, peppery notes are framed in meaty nuances with plenty of spice and whole-cluster fragrance, as well as gun flint and graphite. Red plums and blackberries lurk beneath. The palate has suave, sweeping tannins and delivers a long array of ripe dark plums with chocolate and super fresh, fine tannins to close. Drink across the next decade.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Very different in profile to La Côte Patriarche, the 2016 Syrah Ancient Stones Vineyard exhibits a wilder, more brooding bouquet of roasted meat, espresso and tapenade, with dark fruit playing a supporting role. On the palate, it's full-bodied, supple and expansive, with velvety and fine-grained structuring tannins, but there's a nice sense of reserve and tension despite its textural lavishness.
Other Vintages
2018-
Jeb
Dunnuck -
Robert
Parker -
James
Suckling -
Wine
Enthusiast
By carving out specific vineyard blocks and being meticulous in the vineyard and cellar they are able to achieve the quality they aspire to, the result being highly-acclaimed wines that compete on the world stage.
As importantly over the years our winery culture has become a way of life in which everyone – our growers, winery team and customers are family.
Today, Betz Family Winery is headed by two families, committed to be true to their heritage, their family members and true to what Betz embodies: wines of dimension and pleasure that allow the character of Washington to shine through.
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.