2018 Gramercy Cellars Syrah John Lewis
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Tasting notes
The smell of wet, crushed gravel gives way to a satisfyingly chewy, handsome wine. Complex, striated, bitterness plaiting into leather into herbs into ripe prune skin and Saskatoon berry fruit. Powerful flavours and close-knit tannins, and yet there is an intricate, almost delicately perfumed freshness: lemon verbena, grapefruit oil. Really intriguing. Velvety, dense finish with layers of fresh minty leaves. (TC)
Critic scores
Tamlyn Currin, jancisrobinson.com
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Devastatingly gorgeous and refined, the 2018 Syrah John Lewis was made with 100% whole clusters. The nose gives up a stunning array of aromas with precision and finesse, brilliantly displaying dusty black raspberry, juicy currant and cassis with a kiss of oak to frame the picturesque fruit. Medium-bodied and with 13% alcohol, the palate offers immense pleasure with a regal mouthfeel, mineral tension, just-ripe red fruit tones and a soft tannic edge. The succulent acidity keeps the wine fresh in the mouth with a food-friendly expression across the elongated and evolving finish. The wine rested for 17 months in 7% new French oak puncheons. This bottling is clearly one of the great Syrahs coming from the Walla Walla Valley; if you are not familiar with this wine, you should absolutely check it out. Honestly, I just want to keep smelling my glass. Bravo! Only 2,400 bottles were filled.
The finest vintage here since the 2015, the 2018 Syrah John Lewis boasts a deeper ruby/purple hue to go with thrilling notes of violets, tapenade, lavender, and peppered meats, all supported by a gorgeous core of ripe darker fruits. Medium to full-bodied, flawlessly balanced, and with building structure, this sensational Washington State Syrah will benefit from 2-4 years in the cellar and keep for two decades. This is the finest set of releases I’ve tasted from Gramercy since 2015 when the wines seemed to be harvest way too early and possessed more dilute, almost stripped characters. These latest 2018s still show classic varietal characters with plenty of acidity and tannins, yet also bring beautiful fruit and texture.
Medium-deep red. Deeper-pitched aromas of raspberry, smoked meat and brown spices lifted by a floral element. Supple, fine-grained, spicy and nicely delineated; the best of these Syrahs in concentration, inner-mouth energy and grip, and a bit sweeter than the rest. Again, the tannins are wonderfully suave, but this wine also possesses more supporting material and ripeness. The very subtle, building finish shows terrific energy and grip, with the tannins spreading out horizontally to saturate the palate and teeth. A classic Gramercy Cellars Syrah.