Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
There’s no mistaking the Rocks origin of the 2017 Syrah Sur Echalas Vineyard. This beauty is just about overflowing with dark, meaty plum and blackberry fruits intermixed with lots of mulch, bacon fat, violets, and leafy herbs aromas and flavors. Rich, medium to full-bodied and textured, its core of sweet fruit emerges with time in the glass, and it has ripe, polished tannins, no hard edges, and a great finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Intensely dark in color with a purple edge, the 2017 Syrah Sur Echalas Vineyard wafts from the glass with aromas of ripe blackberries and plums compounded by elegant tones of smoked strawberry and black cherry, followed by a spicy and mineral edge. Elements of hung meat and black pepper flutter effortlessly with perfumed resinous purple flowers. Like a welterweight champ, the wine is medium-bodied and chock-full of dark berry tones, with a velvety texture and harmoniously generous expression that packs a serious punch with a smaller frame. The mid-palate explodes with power and finesse, revealing layers of complexity, a rich mouthfeel and energetic acidity that frames the supporting tannins. The wine slides into a long-winding finish that continues to evolve for more than a minute after the wine has left the palate. Currently, production stands at 300 cases and is nothing short of impressive. If you can find it, buy it!
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Wine Enthusiast
This wine brings the good old fashioned funk that made this estate and region famous. The aromas of crushed rock, fire pit, earth, whole black olive and potpourri show subtlety and complexity. The palate offers richness, layering, Rocks District texture and depth, all undulating across the palate. It's intense. A hyperextended rich black-olive and savory-filled finish caps it off. A long list of superlatives describe this wine. Best after 2025.
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James Suckling
Decadent aromas of berries and spices with notes of smoked and grilled meat. Full body. Round, velvety tannins and a long, flavorful finish. Shows plenty of richness and balance at the same time.
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Wine Spectator
Polished and vibrant, with bold huckleberry, fresh violet, bacon and crushed stone notes that take on richness and structure on a plush finish.
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.