Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
Based on syrah from Les Collines, this vintage of The Deuce adds a bit of fruit from Forgotten Hills, Greg Harrington’s newly acquired vineyard down the road. As dark as it seems on first pass, with its scents of olive and ash and licorice root, it feels bright and nimble, the whole-cluster element (85 percent) broadening the texture and leaving behind a peppery spice. Still youthful, it would be brilliant with lamb shoulder, or cellar it to further its complexity.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2015 Syrah The Deuce comes all from Walla Walla and spent 19 months in mostly neutral oak. It's a great introduction for readers looking to understand high-quality Syrah from Washington, as well as the wines from this terrific estate. Plums, raspberries, flowers, spice, and more earthy notes all flow to a pure, elegant Syrah that has integrated acidity, fine tannin, and a balanced, pure, elegant style that's going to evolve nicely for at least 7-8 years.
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Wine Enthusiast
A blend of fruit from Forgotten Hills and Les Collines using 85% whole cluster, the aromas leap up, with notes of fresh parsley, plum, heaping amounts of fresh and dried herb, violet and cured meat showing a lot of nuance. The smoked-meat and red-fruit flavors are reserved in style, bringing a strong sense of tannic structure that needs time to fully settle in. Best after 2022.
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.