Purchased two bottles of the 2007 TRUST Walla Walla Syrah from winemaker Steve Brooks two years ago at the Walla Walla spring barrel tasting. I had not heard of him/TRUST before nor have I seen the wines since--he was set up in a back room of someone else's winery. He was pouring two syrahs of the same vintag and I was torn between the fruitier Walla Walla and the more savory Columbia Valley bottlings. Both were good and I worried about giving into my preference for the WW because it's so easy, with a palate overworked by tasting room after tasting room, to be seduced by fruit even when that's not one's preferred style. But there was something haunting and elegant in a Cornas kind of way about the WW--I thought, I hoped--so I went with it anyway. These were the only syrahs I purchased on that trip. I also took a chance and bought his very last bottle of a reserve Bordeaux blend that wasn't available for tasting.
We took a bottle to a friend's home last night for a Mexican-inspired meal and it was my WOTN. Whew! The fruit which could so easily have turned sappy, had not. A nose of raspberry, violets, smoke and white pepper were joined by minerals, beef and spice on the palate. Good acidity made it bright and silky tannins gave it balance. The Cornas-ishness I believed in was definitely there, and I couldn't have been happier. Bob called it "outrageously good".
Don't know if Steve Brooks is still making wine, but I hope so.