Winemaker Notes
The 2014 is the third vintage of the Columbia Valley AVA designated wine. As we search Washington for better and more unique Syrah, we see two things happening: First, our upper-end wines are becoming more vineyard focused with both John Lewis and The Deuce based on Les Collines, and Lagniappe based on Red Willow Vineyard. Second, we love the combination of fruit from the lower Yakima Valley and Walla Walla. We can make earthy wines with both structure and freshness. Third, we want to make a Syrah that has better availability and some potential for growth. Enter the Columbia Valley Syrah.
This wine blends four vineyards. The northerly Oldfield and Minick Vineyards, and Walla Walla sources Forgotten Hills and Old Stones in the rocks. Forgotten Hills, which lies at the base of the cool Blue Mountains, provides a world-class base for the wine, contributing freshness and energy to the blend. As it is on pure fractured basalt, it also provides minerality. Oldfield, adjacent to Boushey, and Minick provide red fruit and freshness. The Rocks gives pepper, funk, smoke, depth, and structure. This wine, aged 15 months in neutral barrel, is about 54% whole cluster.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Olive tapenade, licorice, smoked herbs and plenty of peppery black fruits emerge from the 2014 Columbia Valley Syrah, and it's medium to full-bodied, rich, concentrated and beautifully textured. It's another smoking wine from this estate that has real character and depth.
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Wine Enthusiast
This wine is a blend of Oldfield and Minnick vineyards in the Yakima Valley and Forgotten Hills and Old Stones in Walla Walla Valley. Aromas of red and black raspberries, anise, olives, smoked meat, hightoned herb and flower are followed by pure, textured red-fruit flavors that dance across the palate. It’s a pretty expression of the variety.
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.”
A large and geographically diverse AVA capable of producing a wide variety of wine styles, the Columbia Valley AVA is home to 99% of Washington state’s total vineyard area. A small section of the AVA even extends into northern Oregon!
Because of its size, it is necessarily divided into several distinctive sub-AVAs, including Walla Walla Valley and Yakima Valley—which are both further split into smaller, noteworthy appellations. A region this size will of course have varied microclimates, but on the whole it experiences extreme winters and long, hot, dry summers. Frost is a common risk during winter and spring. The towering Cascade mountain range creates a rain shadow, keeping the valley relatively rain-free throughout the entire year, necessitating irrigation from the Columbia River. The lack of humidity combined with sandy soils allows for vines to be grown on their own rootstock, as phylloxera is not a serious concern.
Red wines make up the majority of production in the Columbia Valley. Cabernet Sauvignon is the dominant variety here, where it produces wines with a pleasant balance of dark fruit and herbs. Wines made from Merlot are typically supple, with sweet red fruit and sometimes a hint of chocolate or mint. Syrah tends to be savory and Old-World-leaning, with a wide range of possible fruit flavors and plenty of spice. The most planted white varieties are Chardonnay and Riesling. These range in style from citrus and green apple dominant in cooler sites, to riper, fleshier wines with stone fruit flavors coming from the warmer vineyards.