Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This Tribe called best Syrah is positively hunger-inducing. The wine's medium-rare steak with herb butter aroma is joined by notes of blackberry compote and fresh-mowed hay. Pie cherry, smoky lapsang souchang tea and bacon fat flavors continue the theme. Surprisingly electric acidity is the equal of all that fruit, along with fine-grained tannins.
Editors' Choice -
Jeb Dunnuck
Similar meaty, mineral-laced, smoky notes emerge from the 2020 Syrah The Tribe Vineyard, another classic Rocks Syrah from this team. Black cherries, mulberries, smoked earth, ground pepper, savory herbs, and tons of meaty, almost bloody notes define the aromatics, and it's medium to full-bodied, with wonderful purity, fine tannins, and a great finish. This brilliant Syrah already offers pleasure yet will benefit from 2-4 years of bottle age and have upwards of two decades of overall longevity.
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James Suckling
What a complex nose of balsamic, wild raspberries, thyme, green herbs and Sichuan peppercorns here, with wet stones, too. So fresh and sleek, with a medium body and tight-grained tannins. I like the green-herb character. Alive and peppery with a long, energetic finish. From biodynamically grown grapes.
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Vinous
The 2020 Syrah The Tribe Vineyard lifts from the glass with a savory bouquet, mixing crushed peppercorns with grilled herbs, wet stones and currants. It’s profoundly textural and massive upon entry, with a core of vibrant acidity to balance, along with tart wild berry fruits and zesty acidity that offsets its power and intensity. The 2020 finishes remarkably fresh yet grippy, with inner violet and olive tones, as silty tannins add a pinch of cheek-puckering tension. The 2020 The Tribe mixes vibrancy and power in a way that I find wildly attractive. There is 90-100% whole-cluster fermentation, and it’s refined for fifteen months in neutral oak French demi muids and foudre.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Beginning with an open-knit nose and generous expression, the 2020 Syrah The Tribe Vineyard is spicy, fruity and nutty with elements of savory herbs, stewed plum skin and notes of olive tapenade. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is spicy with umami notes that sway with spicy potpourri essences followed by notes of worn leather, iodine, baked clay, graphite and pencil shavings. The wine continues to evolve and unlock new savory expressions as it glides to a delightfully spiced and firmly mineral finish with a lingering tannic edge. The wine rested for 15 months in neutral oak barrels. Enjoy with barbecue.
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Wine Spectator
Boasts boldly expressive aromas of crushed stone and black olive that open to elegantly polished blueberry and raspberry flavors, which finish on an appealing gamy accent. Drink now through 2031. 642 cases made.
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.