Hors Categorie Syrah 2014
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Parker
Robert
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This deep, ruby-colored barrel sample yields a masculine, even austere character in its smoky, early, shiitake mushroom, and bloody meat-driven aromas and flavors
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The first vintage for this new vineyard (they made a 2013 but kept it all in magnum... if you get a bottle, call me), the inky colored 2014 Syrah is a huge, unctuous effort the exhibits crazy notes of Asian spice, soy, shiitake mushroom, blackcurrants and tar. Tasking like a young Hermitage la Chappelle from Jaboulet (from a great vintage), with lots of tannin, blood, minerality and smoke, a huge mid-palate, and tons of tannin, it's a tour de force in Syrah I wish I could pour for every reader. Forget bottles for 4-5 years and drink over the following two decades or more.
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Dunnuck
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Enthusiast
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Jeb -
Parker
Robert -
Suckling
James -
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Parker
Robert -
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Jeb -
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His discovery of the Hors Categorie Vineyard site in 2005 unfolded in a similarly serendipitous way. Looking just a few miles east and up-stream from that ancient stony river bed, Christophe saw a steep hillside he found eerily reminiscent of Hermitage, the legendary appellation in France's Northern Rhone.
Once again defying conventional wisdom, he invested enormous time and expense in clearing and planting the two and a half-acre vineyard, stubbornly believing it to be "an American jewel." Today, whether seen on a stark winter day or in the vibrance of the growing season, Hors Categorie defies all description—appropriately, the name means "beyond categorization" or "in a class of its own" in French.
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.