2018 Sur Echalas Vineyard Syrah

A smoky nose with notes of blackberries, plums, violet and spices. It’s full-bodied with sleek tannins. Creamy and smoky on the palate with a velvety texture. Layered and structured with a core of black fruit and a savory finish. Tea-like with spiced meat. Gorgeous now, but better in 2023.

All Syrah from a site in the Rocks region of Walla Walla, beautiful red and blackcurrant fruits as well as scorched earth, mushroom, iron, bacon fat, and autumn forest floor emerge from the 2018 Syrah Sur Echalas Vineyard. These notes carry to a medium to full-bodied Syrah with a round, layered mouthfeel, ripe yet building tannins, and a great finish. A primordial Syrah that needs at least 4-5 years of bottle age, it should have a solid two decades or more of overall longevity. If drinking any time soon, there's lots of trapped CO2, so don't be afraid to give it a healthy decant.

Bright, moderately saturated dark red with ruby highlights. Cool, slightly inky scents of blueberry, licorice, menthol and black pepper. A dense, concentrated, savory midweight Syrah with fine-grained red and black fruit, leather, olive tapenade and spice flavors displaying a lovely balance of sweet and saline elements. Very Rocks in its salty high-pH character, with a strong peppery element too. Not particularly fruity but not overly animal either, maintaining good definition and energy. In fact, still tight, peppery and firmly tannic, and not showing as much life or lift as the High Contrast Syrah. (Tasted June 2021; Published September 2021)