Winemaker Notes
With three-foot by three-foot spacing and 4,840 vines per acre, this two acre vineyard of Syrah and Grenache is the highest density planting in the Walla Walla Valley, and one of the highest in North America.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Smoky red and black fruits, iodine, peppery herbs, cold fireplace, and damp earth notes all emerge from the 2020 Syrah Sur Echalas Vineyard, a medium to full-bodied, nicely concentrated, layered, textured Syrah with tons to love. The tannins are ripe and nicely integrated, and it has a good spine of acidity as well as a great finish.
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James Suckling
This shows notes of crushed dark berry, dark licorice, leather, tobacco leaf and moist earth. Medium- to full-bodied with a round texture and supple tannins. Lingering and sleek with melted dark fruit, yet with fresh spiciness to it. Balanced and well-integrated.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Starting with a savory and spicy nose with notes of potpourri, tar and dusty roses, the 2020 Syrah Sur Echalas Vineyard is bright, fresh and aromatically pleasing. Medium to full-bodied, the wine is dense and chewy on the palate, with umami and savory notes of iodine and leather, hints of black cherry skin and green peppercorns and a slight prickle that will benefit from decanting. The wine continues to uncoil and unfold over the long-lingering and tannic finish. It's a delightful wine that spent 15 months in neutral oak vessels...Give it a try.
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Wine Spectator
Polished and sleekly structured, with blueberry, garrigue and smoked meat tones that build tension and richness toward medium-grained tannins.
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.