Winemaker Notes
Very aromatic. Saline, iron, green olive, orange peel oil, purple flowers - mountain laurel. Pepperoni and salami. Green herb, sage, smoke, black pepper, Middle Eastern spice. Both red and black fruits, though more black fruit than usual. Firm acid. Grippy. Crazy balance with medium-plus tannins. Richer than normal. Red fruit is more apparent on the palate. Great combination of depth, intensity, and complexity. Elegant but powerful. It coats the entire palate, especially the mid palate. A wow wine.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Even better, the 2019 Syrah John Lewis comes all from the Les Collines Vineyard in Walla Walla and is 100% Syrah that was just 10% destemmed and spent 17 months in 10% new French oak as well as a Stockinger foudre. This ruby/purple-hued beauty offers beautiful plum and blackberry fruits as well as notes of ground pepper, lavender, roasted herbs, and hints of smoked meat. It's rich, medium to full-bodied, has terrific balance, and enough structure to warrant 3-4 years of bottle age. It should have 2 decades of overall longevity and is another rock star effort from Brandon Moss and Greg Harrington.
Rating: 96+ -
Wine Enthusiast
Made with fruit from Les Collines Vineyard, this breathtaking Syrah is balanced, with elevated acidity, plush tannins and restrained alcohol. Aromas and flavors of blackberries, saline, hibiscus flowers, black pepper and an almond croissant dazzle. Easily one of the best wines I tasted in 2022.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Boasting a more prominent, broader and firm nose, the 2019 Syrah John Lewis offers a firm expression with dusty flowers and dense and chewy black fruit tones and a tight mineral essence in the glass. Full-bodied, the wine is balanced on the palate, with firm tannins, succulent acidity and a lovely growing notion of blackberry skin, turned gravel and spicy peppercorn flavors over the long, spicy and mineral-laced finish. The wine rested for 17 months in 10% new French oak.
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Wine & Spirits
The pinnacle of expression for Les Collines Vineyard, John Lewis is youthful and coiled; its scents of iodine, violets, inkpot, black pepper and pine are all just peeking out. The wine has a quiet composure, becoming more delineated and assertive with air. The texture is supple and mildly savory, and the wine feels complete and poised, a sure snapshot of its future life.
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James Suckling
A juicy, well-balanced syrah with toasted hazelnuts, dark cherries, chili chocolate and smoked paprika on the nose. I like the peppery freshness to the creamy, plush core of dark fruit. Velvety tannins. Lengthy finish. Drink or hold.
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.