2017 Gramercy Cellars Syrah Lagniappe
Estimated value
Buying options
Tasting notes
A cornucopia of intriguing aromas that tumble into the mouth, teasing nose and mouth and brain, sketching fleeting but sharp impressions. Green walnuts, dried oregano, praline, coffee grounds. Wild plums. Tamarind pods and really tight, hard-wired convoluting tannins. Intensely savoury and very, very dry – verging on too astringent, but there is much to draw the taster in and hold attention. A wine I'd love to taste with food. (TC)
Critic scores
Average Score
Tamlyn Currin, jancisrobinson.com
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
The 2017 Syrah Lagniappe opens to a nose of dark fruit and undertones of spice along with a dusty mineral essence. Medium to full-bodied, the wine is shy on the palate, offering a spicy character that grows in amplitude and persistence as time goes on. The wine lingers with a spicy finish that leaves me wanting just a bit more fruit profile to push the score higher.
The 2017 Syrah Lagniappe comes all from the Red Willow Vineyard and was 10% destemmed and brought up in 10% new French oak. Deeper ruby/purple, with blackberry fruits interwoven with lots of ground pepper, gravelly earth, and iron-laced aromatics, it hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, ripe yet certainly present tannins, and a great finish. The balance here is spot on and it's a classic, age-worthy Syrah from this estate. Give bottles 3-5 years and it's going to evolve for over a decade.
Bright medium ruby; dark for a wine from this producer. Savory Old World perfume of crushed blackberry, licorice, peppery herbs and black olive. Densely packed, savory and fine-grained, with an impression of peppery vinosity lifting the middle palate. Superb intensity and flavor definition here, along with a subtle sweetness. The firm, rising back end shows strong black fruit and black olive flavors lifted by a soil-driven peppery element. This bottling stood out in 2016 for its intensity and light touch, and this 2017 is a worthy successor, finishing with resounding palate-staining length and grip. Ultimately, I'd have a hard time identifying this Syrah as a Washington wine owing to its sharp definition and light touch. (13.5% alcohol)