3 Washington Syrah Icon Wines

I have often said that you have to be just a little crazy to make great wine. I was told that I was the crazy one. Well, Charles Smith has come to my rescue with his recent blog post.

“… I have decided to make wine on the moon. Here's how I am going to do it: first, I need to get myself a f***ing badass spacesuit. One with some sweet Motorhead or Eagles of Death Metal patches. Now, I guess it will have to have a stadium pal attached--I mean where do you go to the bathroom on the moon?”

I think there is something in that for all of us.

Charles Smith is Food & Wine's 2009 "Winemaker of the Year". He has been called a genius, a terroirist, and an innovator. He is very vocal about what he believes and very serious in his intent to make the best wines in Washington.
He is the man at K Vintners. From northern California, he came to Walla Walla to start K Vintners at the end of 2001 by way of Scandanavia (this explains the hair).

He puts everything into making great wine. He has tiny yields, and equally tiny allocations. He uses native yeast fermentation, some grapes are crushed under foot, others use a gentle basket press and no fining or filtration are used in the cellar. This at once shows a unique style, while allowing the individual vineyards to fully express themselves.

Be warned: All of these wines contain more than 15% alcohol. They do not taste ‘hot’. I’ve had some higher alcohol reds that taste like someone tipped their bourbon in, by accident. This is not a problem here. The wines are well rounded and the alcohol, which is natural in an extracted red from a warm climate, is well integrated. Wahluke Slope has the warmest climates for grape growing in the state. Nonetheless, it is there and not everyone can handle that level of booze. You have been warned!

After raving about 2006, the last thing the Wine Advocate said about K vintners was:

“….a tasting of 2007 barrel samples indicate that the best is yet to come.”

At the time of writing I have 8 twelve-packs of each wine. If you are interested let me know soon.

K Northbridge Vineyard 2007
for $55.95 per bottle in cases of 12

100% Syrah. 243 cases made. The grapes are hand picked and sorted. The skins are punched down like a Burgundy and the barrels used are also Burgundian. This is a big wine.

What does it taste like?

Incredibly concentrated black fruit (both fresh a liqueur notes are expressed) with cigar box and spice. Smith says it’s ‘built like a brick sh*t-house’. I concur.

K The Deal 2007
for $55.95 per bottle in cases of 12

100% Syrah, planted in 1997. This comes from the Sundance Vineyard of Wahluke Slope. The sandy loam soils and slight northerly aspect provides a cooler growing sight over the warm summer months.

What does it taste like?

Intense quality of blue and black fruit. There are elegant tannins from the nicely integrated oak. This has a great length of finish. This is the most restrained of the wines, but still has a big punch. The Advocate hasn’t tasted this yet, but the last two vintages received 94 points.

K Clifton 2007
for $55.95 per bottle in cases of 12

100% Syrah. Only 243 cases made for the world. We got 8. This is because it is cropped to a minimum for concentration. The hand picked fruit is foot trodden. It is aged entirely in French oak and 30% of this is new. This is a very intense wine with high alcohol (16.5), high intensity and high impact.

What does it taste like?

Amazingly intense blueberry. Crème de Cassis and mixed berry jam with a surprising freshness and very long and seamless finish. Big and beautiful. I don’t normally like this style, but I have to admit that these are well made wines.