One of the better 3 Day Transformations of the Year.
2017 K Vintners Syrah The Deal Sundance Vineyard - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Wahluke Slope (6/19/2022)
3 Syrah’s $30 or Under Blind: Day 1: Wine 1 in a blind tasting of 3 Syrahs in that $25ish price point. This wine showed nothing out of the gate and this will be the review I give for this wine but will update on day 2. Raspberry, mild earth, spice and very simple in nature. Yes, I will revisit this wine on day 2 and even later on with air improved but for this pop and pour event only. 88 points
Day 2: Again, why I do the day 2 and 3 thing. Much more open for business and K like. Roasted meats, pepper, dark berries, earth, minerals and black olives. This is a tremendous effort for a $26 bottle but would never guessed this on a pop and pour. 92 points
Day 3: This is singing! Another day 3 success. Tastes like a baby Cayuse En Chamberlin and that is not an exaggeration. Black olives, tar, funk, minerals, white pepper, roasted meats and earth. LONG finish and complexity off the charts. Buy! 94 points
Recommendation: This might be the value of the year. The most polarizing transformation of the year. (94 points)
Some folks from Georgia were visiting Maine and they reached out to me for a small tasting. One of the wines blinded was a 2006 Cayuse Armada Syrah. It was correct, and while it had some funk…it was not overbearing. I really enjoyed it quite a bit.
2015 Hedges cabernet sauvignon (80% cab sauvignon, 7% merlot, 5% syrah, 5% cab franc, 2% petit verdot, 1% souzao), Red Mountain AVA.
Tried over two nights. A little uncomfortably tight and ungiving on day 1. Very stylistically correct and Bordeaux-like in character as are Hedges typically, but not at lot of pleasure. Day 2 was much more open and enjoyable. All the usual suspects, some coconut nose, cassis, bay leaf, plum, dust, hints of cinnamon, really a wine to ponder on day 2 with significant depth. Lots of structure to support a long life I think, as you expect with this producer.
I’ve got a real soft spot for Hedges. If there is a more Bordeaux-like wine made in Washington I’d be amazed. Like if there was an import ban placed on French wine and you had a hankering for aging Haut Medoc you could load up your cellar with Hedges and be pretty satisfied. I discovered a few bottles in my cellar years ago with 15+ years age on them and I was impressed by how stylistically correct they had developed. One day 1 with this wine though, I was wondering if they leaned too much towards style over pleasure, there simply wasn’t much of the latter. Day 2 was much better but this was by no means every going to be a crowd pleaser. I know the vintage posed a number of challenges (hottest on record) with vines shutting down and either low or too high sugars so maybe this is a good effort for that vintage. At least one more in my cellar to try at 20 years I think.
2014 The Walls Vineyards Syrah Gaspard - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Red Mountain (8/13/2022)
P&P. This has progressed nicely since my last bottle in 2017. Understated blackberry is both fresh and satisfying, tannins are most resolved and a nice closing zip of acidity on the finish. If this were a tad lighter on the palate - it could easily masquerade as a Crozes Herm or perhaps a St Joseph. No rush on this. (92 points)
2018 Januik Syrah Ciel du Cheval Vineyard - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Red Mountain (8/13/2022)
Day 1: Wood influence with red currants, spice and pepper. Not a good showing. 87 points
Day 2: Mild wood influence but reveals so much more featuring cherry, plum, spice, black pepper, earth and charcoal. Much more drinkable and for sure another stellar bottle. 92 points
Just toured through some wineries in the Yakima Valley AVA - Owen Roe, Treveri, Freehand, Sheridan. Sheridan definitely a high point for the wine quality, Owen Roe for the experience. WOTD was the Sheridan “Reigning Fire” blend. Fantastic Merlot-dominant blend. bought 3 bottles to take home.
We really like Sheridan too, for me their L’Orage is what I enjoy most. All of their wines really sing with a few years on them. This reminded me I have some ‘12s I need to break out as they may be getting past prime.
One of the guys I drink with, and who’s tastes are very similar to mine, is a member there. We went with him and his wife to do his pick up at a place Sheridan was using here on the west side, up in Woodinville. We noticed a bunch of members were buying a bottle we hadn’t paid attention to by the cases called Mystique. It was $20 a bottle member price, this was 3 or 4 years ago, so we bought some. What a steal! Very Sheridan like, much like a baby L’Orage for way less money.
Interesting though how peoples tastes are different. His recent shipment they included a bottle of that new Reigning Fire. We thought it was very un-Sheridan in style and more of a mass produced grocery store wine style. High extracted super-ripe fruit, and lacking in any sort of character. We were very surprised coming from Sheridan. We inspected the bottle closely and it doesn’t say Sheridan anywhere other than super fine print saying “bottled by” if I recall correctly. We ended up dumping the remaining bottle down the drain. YMMV as it sounds like it was lsupp’s Wine of the Day.
Nice little tour. Agree that Sheridan makes nice wines, Owen Roe which I have sold does some great higher end wines, huge fan of Chapel Block and Red Willow Cab, along with solid values from Ex Umbris and the whites like DuBrul Chard and Crawford Beck Pinot Gris are really solid. Don’t overlook the Oregon Pinot Noir’s, David is an excellent winemaker. My favorite property is Treveri, I consider Christian a good friend and what they produce for the price is unreal, BdB Zero is my favorite value sparkler, really like Muller-Thurgau, Rose, and BdN too along with Syrah Brut as a Lambrusco-esque play with meats and cheese. Not sure if you got to try some of the later disgorged or aged sparkling wines, but they are excellent for a winery that is a decade old and has strict standard on time on Lee’s, etc…
The nose shows dark blue fruit with a bit of green bell pepper. Palate is medium body, blue and red fruit, true herbal tinge, purple flower. Good amount of acidity that lends some structure, tannins are supple and mostly resolved. Finish shows some floral notes, wet soil, roasted green peppers, and mushy blue fruit. There is minimal new oak here, which I really appreciate in this wine.
This is a nice CF, especially for the price. Doesn’t feel manipulated or taste like pressed wine. There’s sufficient ripeness while maintaining the essence of Franc. The palate is just the slightest bit thin, and it could have a little more power. I imagine the wine was in a better place structurally a year ago. It is quite tasty now, so I wouldn’t age this more than another 3 years–the primary flavors have declared themselves nicely and I’m uncertain of the backbone to support extended cellaring.
Yes I’d give it another go. We all thought it was fantastic - though I’m predisposed to like merlot-dominant blends. Thought it was much more than grocery plonk with a soft texture but very fine and grippy tannins underpinning the pleasant fruit. Big wine. Reminded me of that QC Palengat from a few years back that was Merlot-dominant.
Went to Col Solare today for one more tasting before the weekend is out. I’ve come to like their wines, with their somewhat trademark dusty and chewy tannins. Really enjoyed the tasting - especially the ‘18 vs ‘15 side-by-side, and the single varietal malbec was remarkably good. Very pronounced nose and aromatics, with broad fruit and tannin (of course). picked up an assortment. They had half bottles of 2000 and 750’s of 2003 for sale so grabbed one of each for comparison. Had the 2000 at lunch, and my how the style has changed! Overripe, with tannins completely out of balance. No wonder I wasnt a huge fan before! Style is much more crisp now. It will be interesting to see what the ‘03 will be like.
