Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The thicker skins of the 2013 Syrah meant that it was picked a long time after the rains on 30 October, to benefit from the warm month. It has an attractive nose of boysenberry, bilberry, marmalade and rosemary scents that lean towards Côte-Rôtie in style. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, well-judged acidity, plenty of energy here with great tension on the finish. This is a top-drawer Syrah from Cristom that is going to age with some style. It comes highly recommended.
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Wine & Spirits
Cristom’s small syrah vineyard has benefited from the last few warm vintages in Oregon, which have brought a warm core of flavor that lends harmony to its exotic scents. It’s never lacking in aromatic delights—mace, gingerbread, smoke and crushed pepper dominate—but the flavors are dark and satisfying, the textures velvety and tightly woven.
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.”
Running north to south, adjacent to the Willamette River, the Eola-Amity Hills AVA has shallow and well-drained soils created from ancient lava flows (called Jory), marine sediments, rocks and alluvial deposits. These soils force vine roots to dig deep, producing small grapes with great concentration.
Like in the McMinnville sub-AVA, cold Pacific air streams in via the Van Duzer Corridor and assists the maintenance of higher acidity in its grapes. This great concentration, combined with marked acidity, give the Eola-Amity Hills wines—namely Pinot noir—their distinct character. While the region covers 40,000 acres, no more than 1,400 acres are covered in vine.