Winemaker Notes
This wine shows massive smoke, pepper, and the entire charcuterie catalog of Salumi in Seattle, black olive and licorice flavors and elegant black fruits. It shows balanced acidity with intense richness and a touch of vanilla spice. Exactly what we wanted to make in Washington!
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Syrahs begin with the 2007 Syrah Walla Walla Valley sourced from La Colline and Forgotten Hills Vineyards. Purple-colored, it displays a super-spicy nose of garrigue, olives, bacon, smoked meat, and blueberry. Dense, layered, and concentrated, it skillfully combines elegance with power. Silky on the palate, the succulent flavors last for nearly one minute. It has the structure to evolve for several years but will be hard to resist now.
Gramercy Cellars was started by Master Sommelier Greg Harrington in 2005. He states, "My goal is to make wines the kind I like to drink, lower alcohol, higher acid, wines that taste like they came from some place." His last set of releases, reviewed in Issue 177, was first-class but the latest collection is eye-opening. My advice: get on Gramercy’s mailing list while you still can.
-
Wine & Spirits
Greg Harrington draws from several blocks in Les Collines Vineyard for this wine, and like the Amavi Les Collines (recommended), it has a dark, resinated, savory core. Scents of black pepper, woodsmoke and black tea lead into flavors that are focused and restrained: dark, sweet purple plum and carob woven with savory spice from the stems, along with bergamot, mint and creosote. The finish is precise and elegant. For roast lamb.
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.