2018 Cayuse Syrah Wallah Wallah Special #12
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Marked as #12 in the sequence of releases, the 2018 Wallah Wallah Syrah Special displays a dark ruby core and seductive dark fruit tones that sway with spiced potpourri, dried flowers, blackberry essence and spiced cherry compote. Medium to full-bodied, the wine offers a delicious array of fresh, ripe fruits that oscillate between an elegant and spicy nature, with flavors of dusty, worn leather, red and black peppercorns, umami and baked earth. The wine somersaults to an elongated, juicy and mineral-laced finish and will undoubtedly bring pleasure for the next few decades. It rested for 19 months in approximately 15% new French oak barrels. Christophe Baron certainly loves magnums, and this should age beautifully. The only challenge will be trying to keep your hands off the bottle while it's resting in the cellar since it's both age-worthy and crushable. Only 2,886 magnums were created for the world.
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James Suckling
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
Dried blackcurrant, smoked meat, rosemary, peppercorn, moss, oyster shell and tangerine peel on the nose. Itâs full-bodied with firm, creamy tannins. Rich, savory and spiced with lasting intensity. Chewy, lingering herb notes. Try from 2022.
Christophe often releases a special blend in magnum (he never says which vineyards it’s from), and the 2018 Syrah Special #12 is another gorgeous wine. Revealing a deep ruby/plum hue as well as classic Rocks notes of blue fruits, ground pepper, bacon fat, lavender, and violets, it hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, a seamless, elegant texture, ripe yet certainly present tannins, and a great finish. It needs 4-5 years of bottle age and will cruise for two decades. This is a hard mailing list to crack, yet winemaker Christophe Baron continues to deliver the goods, releasing singular, exotic, incredible wines from his bevy of single vineyards in the Rocks region of the Walla Walla Valley. The 2018s show the rich yet focused, straight, elegant style of the vintage beautifully and are going to be incredibly age-worthy. While the Syrahs get all the love, don’t miss his Grenache, Tempranillo, and Bordeaux blends. His 2018 Grenache God Only Knows might be the finest Grenache I’ve ever tasted outside of France and few California releases.