2009 Nefarious Syrah Estate Rocky Mother Vineyard

The 2008 Syrah Rocky Mother Vineyard was rather volatile and shared with a 2010 Syrah from five-year-old vines in Defiance Vineyard both vegetality and slightly gum-numbing tannins, but Nefarious Cellars’ 2009 Syrah Rocky Mother Vineyard displays sufficiently ripe if bitter- and tart-edged dark berry fruit allied to black pepper, coriander, tar, cocoa, and roasted red meats in a sappy, firm, and persistent performance. Hints of heat and oak astringency (from 18 months in one-third new, two-thirds once-used barrels) are mitigated by the invigorating effect of the wine’s tartness and peppery bite as well as by the intense persistence of its generally somewhat sinister cast of flavor character (a description I swear I wrote without at that moment reflecting on the implications of “nefarious”!). This will certainly merit revisiting in another year or two. All three of the Huffs’ Syrahs I tasted, incidentally, were over 14% alcohol, despite the fact that only this 2009 from Rocky Mother – at 14.8% – displayed an entirely satisfying degree of ripeness. Dean and Heather Huff are among the pioneers in Washington’s young Lake Chelan A.V.A., having moved in 2004 from Oregon, where he worked at De Ponte and Soter. In an interesting twist, she is responsible for the white wines and he for reds. Their Stone’s Throw and (mature) Rocky Mother estate vineyards are located a 20-minute drive north of Lake Chelan, thus falling under the broad Columbia Valley A.V.A., their sole Lake Chelan vineyard being Defiance. (To what extent nomen est omen it may take a few more years to properly assess.) Tel. (509) 682-9505