Winemaker Notes
Blend: 93% Syrah, 7% Viognier
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Incorporating a touch more Viognier than normal, the 2014 Syrah Cailloux Vineyard is 93% Syrah and 7% Viognier from the first vineyard planted in the stones region of Walla Walla. Sporting a surprisingly deep, inky color, it offers a heavenly bouquet of black olives, tobacco leaf, smoked meats, pepper, blackcurrant and black cherry notes. Deep, rich and ever changing in the glass, with incredible complexity and layers, this full-bodied masterpiece has building tannin, a stacked mid-palate and a great, great finish. It's pure perfection in Syrah, and the finest vintage of this cuvee ever made. As a bonus, it’s also the largest production Syrah they produce. Bravo!
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Wine Spectator
Impressively expressive and well-built, with evocative raspberry and smoky bacon aromas and sleek, dynamic black cherry, crushed rock and green olive flavors that build momentum toward refined tannins. Drink now through 2025.
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Wine Enthusiast
The aromas of this wine leap from the glass, with notes of orange peel, potpourri, smoked meat, spice, fresh herb, stem, ash and plum. It’s expressive, but still wound up. The flavors are focused, concentrated and savory, bringing a sense of intensity and richness but also lightness. The balance is exquisite.
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.