2018 Torrin Akasha
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The 2018 Akasha Syrah drinks like a dream! It has a wealth of aromas that shift continually and offer new details with each return to the glass: blackberry pie, mint chocolate, black licorice, cast iron, violets, chargrill and coffee. The full-bodied palate is layered, pure, deep and savory, with rounded tannins, seamless freshness and tremendous length.
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Average Score
Jeb Dunnuck
Erin Brooks, Wine Advocate
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The 2018 Syrah Akasha is all Syrah and comes from a mix of the Shadow Canyon, Fulldraw, and Bien Nacido vineyards. It was 80% destemmed and spent 22 months in 300-liter French oak barrels, 60% being new. This brilliant Syrah knocks it out of the park, offering a heavenly bouquet of roasted herbs, rendered bacon fat, scorched earth, and tons of meatiness, all of which are grounded by a wealth of ripe black fruits. With air, it shows more Bien Nacido character and has ripe tannins, impressive balance, and a great finish. This is pure, classic California goodness and will benefit from 2-3 years of bottle age and shine for over a decade. This report looks at the new releases from Viquel and Scott Hawley’s Torrin Wine, and this is another estate in Paso Robles that has recently completed construction on a new tasting room and winemaking facility. The 2018s reviewed here all show the fresher, more focused, and structured side of the vintage and I suspect will benefit from a handful of years of bottle age. Looking at the different cuvées of the estate, the Maven and the Seneschal are always the Grenache-heavy releases, with the Maven being 100% Grenache and the Seneschal being a split of Grenache and Graciano. The Banshee is a true GSM blend and close to equal parts Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre, all coming from the Willow Creek District. Moving to the Syrah-heavy releases in the lineup, the Le Devoir is mostly Syrah blended with a good chunk of Graciano, and their Akasha release is 100% Syrah. The Akasha has been all Paso Robles fruit in the past but since 2016 has included fruit from the Shadow Canyon Vineyard in the York Mountain AVA and the Bien Nacido Vineyard outside of Santa Maria. Lastly, the Tsundere always stands out in the lineup for being mostly Cabernet Sauvignon blended with smaller amounts of Syrah, Tannat, Grenache, and Petit Verdot. The estate also releases some terrific Pinot Noirs under their Lagom label, and while they weren’t submitted for this report, I’ve certainly loved them in the past.