Got together with another couple to drink Rocks district syrahs. Formally known as The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater, officially in Oregon state but thought by most as Washington due to the fact that the vineyards are mostly owned by Washington wineries and were made famous by the winery Cayuse, The Rocks has become the reference point for all syrah produced here. The wines have a funk character that speaks to Northern Rhone syrahs in a way unmatched by anywhere else on the planet.
2013 MTR Productions Syrah Memory Found Walla Walla Valley
MTR is a side hustle by Reynvaan winemaker Matt Reynvaan. Unlike most modern American wines, the wines are held back and released only when deemed ready to drink. This one, owing to both its age and somewhat different objectives, showed more meat and minerality than the other three with notes of raw beef, herbs and sour cherries. It's a wine very obviously in transition: no longer young and not yet mature, leaving the taster stranded in the middle and therefore it placed last for all. Not a bad wine, just a bit lost for now and I'll hold my remaining bottle for future maturity.
2017 Delmas Syrah SJR Vineyard The Rocks District of Milton-Freewate
My first Delmas, and what a surprise. Didn't expect anything so radically different from Cayuse and Reynvaan--or any other WA syrah in memory. Made by the brilliant Billo Naravene of RASA fame, it was the most feminine of the four with a surprising floral nose (no doubt owing a lot to the 8% viognier in the coferment) on sweet but restrained cherry-raspberry fruit and mild herbs. The Rocks funk is there but its less the wallop of new world style than the sophisticated barnyard of a good Cornas, which it resembles in other ways as well. Pretty much everyone's 1st place wine. Loved this.
2018 Big Table Farm Syrah Funk Estate Vineyard The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater
Darkest and densest in the line-up. Everything you smell you also taste: opulent blue-black fruit, Rocks funk, tar, black olive, ham, and black licorice. Concentrated and silky, mesmerizing flavor and texture. Sweetest and plushest of the four but that's not a complaint; it fits well with BTF's house style. Loved this.
2019 Sleight of Hand Syrah Psychedelic Stoney Vine Vineyard Walla Walla Valley
Youngest in a line-up of four Rocks syrahs. Lightest in color and body (it put on weight in the glass, cellared bottles should put on weight with time), also the least gamey which gave it a sense of modernity. Good balance of fruit and savory.