Purple with ruby swirls. The nose is tight on opening but reveals smoky black raspberries. On the palate, this is sweet black raspberry fruit. It has a nice complexity to it and is more "elegant" than a fruit bomb. Drinking quite well, it will probably still improve with good cellaring. Food friendly for most foods. Nice finish. It retails for around $60.
In a tasting, two bottles were tasted side by side. They showed differently. Was it because the wines were in a different place in the line-up or the bottles came from different stores and had been treated differently? Hard to say, but tasted in a group, we had different reactions. There is an inherent bias that blind tasting removes prejudices and it probably does, but it also introduces its own set of biases that can not be discounted. Bottle #1 was the first glass tasted while bottle #2 was the 9th.
Purple/ruby in color. The nose has black raspberries, black pepper and a burnt rubber note that is present (in a good way) in many Washington Syrahs. On the palate, there is nice boysenberry fruit. Layered but tight with fruit and crushed rocks. There is an almost seamless texture to this wine that is really nice. It will work with a wide variety of food and has a nice backbone of acidity to assist. Good finish. This competes with wines at twice the price. Good now, it probably won't improve but should remain here for at least five and probably ten more years.
Deep ruby in color, ruby at the rim. The nose is dusty with black raspberries. Good acidity. On the palate there is nice boysenberry fruit. Lots of fruit with an underlying char. Good finish. This is young and tight. It comes across as more of a cooler climate Syrah. It probably needs another five years to really strut its stuff and be good for a decade after that. Lots of potential for upside here though it is excellent right now.
Inky purple in color. The nose has black raspberries, black pepper and violets. On the palate, this is almost seamless. Black raspberry fruit, some black pepper. Great juicy but lush texture. Complex. Long finish. Needs big or spicy foods but there is enough acidity to handle them. This is delicious and so easy to drink now, but should continue to mature for another 5 to 7 years and be good for at least a decade after that.
This is 97% Syrah with 3% viognier cofermented from the Powerline Vineyard. This drinks in the style of the Northern Rhone but with a new world flair that works. It should improve with a few years of cellaring. Ruby in color, purple at the core. The nose has black raspberries, black olives and a nice minerality lurking in the backround. On the palate, this is softer in texture. Nice black raspberry fruit, slight black pepper and underlying char. Slight tannins that come out more with air. Good finish. This needs heartier foods but has the acidity to work well them.
