Winemaker Notes
The wine screams out of the glass with apricot, ripe plum, black licorice, crème bruleè, and loads of BBQ notes of juicy brisket, Texas ribs, and rosemary butter over a Wagyu steak. This wine is powerful, with elegant tannins and a finish that goes on for what seems like forever.
Blend: 94% Syrah, 6% Viognier
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2021 Syrah In The Rocks was co-fermented with even more Viognier and checks in as 94% Syrah and 6% Viognier, all of which was aged in 25% new puncheons. It's certainly exotic and perfumed, with lots of red and blue fruits, violets, flowers, shiitake mushrooms, and pepper aromatics. These carry to a medium to full-bodied, fresh, focused Syrah with a more focused mouthfeel, beautifully polished tannins, and a great finish. It's a touch more inward and closed compared to the other releases here, so hide bottles for 3-4 years. It's clearly another gorgeous wine in the lineup that will evolve gracefully.
Rating: 97+ -
Wine Enthusiast
This beautiful estate Syrah with Viognier tops off an outstanding 2021 vintage for this producer. Take a deep breath from the glass to encounter peach jam and a bowl's worth of blueberries laced with mint, anise. Crisp acidity and a fresh mouthfeel accompany flavors like blackberries, roasted pork shoulder and orange zest. This wine's energy borders on kinetic.
Editors' Choice -
James Suckling
What a fragrant and complex nose of brambles, raspberries, orange peel, wet earth and iron. Rusty elements. It’s full-bodied but fresh and minerally, with sleek tannins and a wildly savory finish. 94% syrah and 6% viognier. Try from 2025.
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Wine Spectator
Sleek yet structured, with multilayered raspberry and blueberry flavors that are accented by licorice, crushed stone and black olive hints as this builds richness and tension toward polished tannins. Drink now through 2033.
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.