Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Wonderfully aromatic, showing green and white pepper, olives, pomegranates, sour cherries and oranges. So lively, peppery and mouthwateringly fresh with a savory freshness. Medium-bodied and very fine, even ethereal and weightless. Salty and very, very long. Drink or hold.
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Vinous
The 2022 Grenache The Boy displays a stunning translucent ruby hue. Its bouquet includes crushed strawberries, sweet herbs and white smoke. It's soothingly round and pliant yet more lifted than anticipated, with depths of red and blue fruits riding silken textural waves. Tactile minerals add form as a sour citrus twang enlivens its long, gently tannic finale.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Grown in cobblestone soils at higher elevation, the 2022 Grenache The Boy is smoothly textured, medium-bodied, and fully in balance, fermented in concrete tank on skins for 37 days, then aged in larger format demi-mulds. With 25% whole-cluster fermentation, it sings in bright red fruit, baking spice, and dried herb, a beautiful showing of the grape’s immense love for the region. Age through 2032.
Grenache thrives in any warm, Mediterranean climate where ample sunlight allows its clusters to achieve full phenolic ripeness. While Grenache's birthplace is Spain (there called Garnacha), today it is more recognized as the key player in the red blends of the Southern Rhône, namely Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Côtes du Rhône and its villages. Somm Secret—The Italian island of Sardinia produces bold, rustic, single varietal Grenache (there called Cannonau). California, Washington and Australia have achieved found success with Grenache, both flying solo and in blends.
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.