Steve had us over last night to try a few Syrahs:
1. SuperMoon Syrah VidonVnyd/WillametteVlly (12.8%; Picked: Oct 14; whole-cluster ferment; Aged: 8 mo. in neutral oak; U/U) 100 SunsWnry/McMinville/OR 2019: Med.light color; strong c-c/black pepper some light/blackberry/Syrah very light pencilly/oak almost Pinotish some complex nose; lightly tart some c-c/black pepper light blackberry/Syrah elegant light pencilly/oak flavor w/ light elegant tannins; very long some c-c/black pepper light pencilly/oak light blackberry/Syrah bit complex elegant finish w/ light tannins; a lightweight elegant red that speaks of Syrah w/ a whisper. $30.00 (AV)
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2. Jaffurs Syrah ThompsonVnyd/SBC (14.3%) 1997: Very dark slightly bricking color; some cedary/pencilly classic Thompson/peppery slight mushroomy/earthy some blackberry/Syrah/spicy some smokey/toasty/Fr.oak quite complex lovely mature Syrah nose; soft rather cedary/pencilly fairly strong classic Thompson/peppery/spicy rather smokey/toasty/Fr.oak some blackberry/Syrah/spicy slightly drying rather complex flavor w/ light smooth tannins; very long/lingering bit cedary/pencilly strong toasty/pungent/Fr.oak/smokey light Syrah/spicy/blackberry/boysenberry rather complex finish w/ light bit drying tannins; a lovely expression of a fully-mature Thompson Syrah.
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3. TwoVintners Syrahs Some Days Are Diamonds May's DiscoveryVnyd/HorseHeavenHills (14.7%; 80 cs) Woodinville 2013: Very dark color; some whole-cluster/peppery some c-c/black pepper rather Rhonish intense blackberry/Syrah/quite spicy fairly complex nose; lightly tart fairly intense Rhonish/black pepper/c-c very strong blackberry/spicy/Syrah bit smokey rather complex flavor w/ modest grippy tannins; very long/lingering rather smokey/Rhonish/black pepper very strong blackberry/spicy/Syrah some complex Syrah finish w/ modest tannins; quite an attractive rather Rhonish-like WashState Syrah. $50.00
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4. TwoVintners Syrah Some Days Are Stones StoneyVineVynd/WallaWallaVlly (14.7%; 150 cs) 2013: Very dark color; very intense blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry/licorice bit plummy very classic WashState Syrah bit complex lovely nose; bit soft quite rich/lush intense blackberry/plummy/Syrah/licorice/boysenberry/ripe some toasty/oak slight peppery/Rhonish bit complex flavor w/ modest ripe/rich tannins; very long/lingering some toasty/Fr.oak rich/lush ripe/blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry/plummy slight earthy fairly ripe slight Rhonish bit complex finish w/ modest ripe tannins; a much more classic WashState expression of Syrah. $50.00
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5. TwoVintners Syrahs Some Days Are Diamonds May's DiscoveryVnyd/HorseHeavenHills (14.8%; 150 cs) Maltby 2018: Very much like the '13 but much more ripe/blackberry/Syrah bit Rhonish/c-c/peppery/w-c character w/ ample ripe/grippy tannins; pretty much the same differences framed by a strong ripe/blackberry/Syrah character.
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6. TwoVintners Syrah Some Days Are Stones StoneyVineVynd/WallaWallaVlly (13.6%; 135 cs) 2018: Very similar to the '13 but again showing much more classic WashState Syrah rather licorice/plummy/ripe/boysenberry less complex character; a pretty classic quite good expression of WashState Syrah.
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. The SuperMoon was a new wnry to me that recently showed up here in NM. I thought it quite a pretty red but would have liked it a bit more with a more intensity expression of Syrah and a bit more drame. Served it blind, I probably would have guessed it to be a PinotNoir.
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2. Jaffurs: This was the other Steve's contribution...the oldest remaining Jaffurs he had left. It displayed the classic Thompson peppery character and was still in remarkably good condition, but probably would have had more fruit and been in its prime some 5-8 yrs ago. But quite good condition for a 24 yr old Syrah.
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3. TwoVintners: This was a wnry Steve discovered about a yr ago when he wandered into their tasting room in Woodinville. The winemaker, MorganLee, was there and spent over an hr visiting w/ Steve. About a month ago, we tried their skin-contact/ViniMacerati GWT, which impressed me quite a lot.
These two pairs of Syrahs were made exactly the same way in the cellar. The only difference being that terroir thing that wine geeks like to babble endlessly on about.
I liked all four of these Syrahs quite a lot. The differences between the HorseHeaven and the WallaWalla Syrahs was fairly strong. I slightly preferred the HH has showing a bit more of a Rhonish/c-c character with the WW showing much more what I think of as a classic WashState ripe/boysenberry character. The two '13's showed a bit more complexity than the '18's, but not a whole lot of evolution. All should go out another 4-8 yrs I would expect.
So I was pretty impressed by the TwoVintners wines that I've had thus far. I look forward to trying more of them that Steve brings in, but probably will eschew the Merlot.
Tom