Blind Tasting #12: Single-Vineyard Syrahs from Waters

Using the word “terroir” in mixed company can be a dangerous proposition, especially if you pronounce it with the throat-clearing French ‘r.’ My friends’ snoot alarms tend to go off when I use wine-related words that a) are French; and b) don’t have an easy translation. But there is no getting around it; terroir is an essential element of any good wine discussion, so let’s just dive into it.

The best definition I have heard for terroir is “everything outside the control of the winemaker.” Now some Frenchies include aspects of the winemaker in terroir (like yeast choice), and there is probably a French public-access TV show dedicated entirely to this debate, but for now, let’s stick with excluding all actions of the winemaker. So what does that leave us with? Soil + Climate + Topography = Terroir.

Terroir is important to Europeans. They hold expectations that their wines will show a sense of place. Those French wine labels that drive you insane; the ones with Appelation Blahbityblah Controlee in big letters and nary a mention of an actual grape varietal: those aren’t there to frustrate the American consumer (although that may be a welcome side effect). They are there because most Europeans are less interested in what’s in the bottle and more interested in where’s in the bottle.

So what the hell does this have to do with Blind Tasting #12? Well, my hope for this tasting was to explore Washington terroir, and to do so by keeping the varietal, vintage, and winemaker the same, and differing only the vineyards. Fortunately for me, Waters Winery in Walla Walla produced four single-vineyard Syrahs from 2006 grapes. And even better, they used little to no new oak when aging these wines (new oak tends to be an enemy of terroir-expression).

2006 Waters Winery Syrah Columbia Valley – $28 @ Cellar 46

Rating: 4

Of the four, this is the only one that is not labeled as a single-vineyard, but this is 100% Syrah from Minick Vineyard in the Yakima Valley.

This was the prettiest wine of the night, with a floral, citrus-infused nose that also showed hints of earth, meat, and forest. Flavors of black licorice, dark fruit, and peaches; big acid; not too much in the way of tannins; and a pleasantly spicy finish. A lovely, well-rounded wine.

2006 Waters Winery Syrah Loess Vineyard – $43 @ Cellar 46

Rating: 4

Loess (pronounced like the first three letters of “lust”) Vineyard is owned by Leonetti, one of Washington’s most renowned producers, and they don’t part with very much of their fruit.

I absolutely loved this wine; especially the nose, which evoked the life of a truffle-hunting pig, with musty aromas of mushroom, dirt, cabbage, and charcoal. Great acidity carried flavors of blueberries and meats, and there were some brawny tannins that make me think this could stand to age for a few more years.

2006 Waters Winery Syrah Forgotten Hills Vineyard – $43 @ Cellar 46

Rating: 4+

Forgotten Hills (one of Waters’ estate vineyards) is currently under the radar, but I wouldn’t be surprised if in five years, we talk about this vineyard in the same conversation with Boushey and the Cayuse estate vineyards, as one of the top Syrah vineyards in the state. This is the second Syrah I have tasted from Forgotten Hills (the first was from JLC) and both have been absolute funk factories on the nose.

On the first pass, the nose was more traditional Syrah: blackberry, black pepper, and an herbal component. But on the second pass, after a few hours open, the true colors of Forgotten Hills began to emerge: loads of bacon, olives, and cabbage. The palate had delicious, rich cherry fruit and a toasty finish.

I was tempted to give this wine a 5, because it was so, so good on my second glass. But there just wasn’t enough of it left on that second pour, so I hope to pick up another bottle to keep all to myself (okay; maybe I will share with 1 or 2 others). Hence the 4+.

2006 Waters Winery Syrah Pepper Bridge Vineyard – $43 @ Cellar 46

Rating: 3

Pepper Bridge is an old, Walla Walla warhorse vineyard first planted in 1991.

This might be getting a raw deal, because the other three were so good, but to me, the Pepper Bridge didn’t bring the same level of complexity as the other wines. The nose was the most muted of the four, with hints of candied cherry and menthol. On the palate, more cherries and some nice minerality, but this finished hot. The alcohol seemed a bit out of whack, and I would try drinking this colder if I had another bottle.

Blind Tasting #11: Cab-Syrah Blends (Washington wine)

Having previously extolled the virtues of Cab-Syrah blends from Washington, I thought it was time to taste a group of them together. For the French, Cabernet Sauvignon is the great grape of Bordeaux, and Syrah the great grape of the northern Rhone. And in France, rarely shall they meet. While these blends turn up occasionally in Provence, they are primarily an American phenomenon.

Across the board, these wines showed well. I tasted them blind, and here are my notes, in order of tasting:

2005 Efeste Final-Final – $26 @ Cellar 46

Rating: 3. On the muted nose, blackberry and hints of spearmint. The palate saw more blackberries, black pepper, medium tannins, and below-average acidity. I thought this wine was good, but not a standout, and it was overshadowed by the other wines, which I found to be more complex.

Efeste is a Woodinville winery that has Chris Upchurch, from DeLille Cellars, as its consulting winemaker. Final-Final is a 50%-50% blend. The 2005s are mostly gone, but the 2006 is scheduled to be released on February 28.

2006 Gorman Winery The Evil Twin – $55 @ Cellar 46

Rating: 4. The nose was muted at first, but opened up with time. Initially I got chocolate-covered plums, but on the second pour, a compelling earthy note began to emerge. The palate had excellent acid-tannin balance that carried through flavors of cherries and coffee. This was a rich, mouthwatering wine, with a tasty, cocoa finish. I wish I had more.

Gorman is another small-production, Woodinville winery whose wines can be tough to come by. The Evil Twin, which is a 50%-50% blend of Red Mountain fruit, is especially tough to find, since Wine Spectator recently scored it 95 points (tied for the highest score a Washington red has ever received from that publication).

2006 DeLille Cellars Doyenne Aix – $30 @ Cellar 46.

Rating: 4. Big, funky nose of a cherry-licorice mud pie. On the palate, completely different feel from the other three wines: lighter, elegant, lower tannins, bigger acid. Nice raspberry fruit. This wine was a head-scratcher for me, because the flavor and texture profile reminded me more of a Pinot Noir than either a Syrah or a Cab, but I liked it.

DeLille is yet another Woodinville winery. Their Bordeaux blends get the DeLille label, and their Rhone blends get the Doyenne label (and somewhat lower prices). The 2005 Aix made it onto Wine Spectator’s Top 100 for 2008 and immediately sold out, but the 2006 (a 65% Syrah-35% Cab blend of Red Mountain fruit) seems to be readily available right now.

2006 Rulo Syrca – $18 @ Cellar 46.

Rating: 4. My tasting notes look a little different than the last time I drank this. On the nose, black cherries and hints of earth. On the palate, this was a big, rich wine, with flavors of dark-chocolate-covered blueberries, nice acid, chalky tannins, and a long finish. Really delicious, and I still think Rulo is producing some of the best under-$20 wines in the state.

Both the winery and the grapes are from Walla Walla, and this wine can be found at Cellar 46 and Metropolitan Market, for about the same price. Syrca is a blend of 70% Syrah-30% Cab.

As you can see, I enjoyed these wines quite a bit. My only complaint is that I would like to find some Cab-Syrah blends from Washington that are closer to $12. If you know of any, please leave a comment.

Blind Tasting #10: Washington Cult Wine vs. Two-Buck Chuck

For our 10th blind tasting, I wanted to do something a litttle different. Through Winebid.com, I was able to procure a bottle of Quilceda Creek Merlot and a bottle of Cayuse Syrah, and we put them up blind against Charles Shaw (“Two-Buck Chuck”) Merlot and Shiraz.

Quilceda and Cayuse are generally known as “cult wines” because they are fully allocated; that is, unless you’re on their mailing list, it’s going to be awfully difficult to find their wines. I am on the waiting lists for both wineries and would probably be willing to part with my starboard testicle to get an allocation from Cayuse. Hopefully they won’t hold me to that bargain.

Quilceda Creek has been around since 1979, and they are most famous for their Cabernet Sauvignon, which has received three perfect, 100-point scores from The Wine Advocate in 2002, 2003, and 2005 (the 2004 got a paltry 99 points; for shame!). What makes the feat especially impressive is that this is not a micro-production winery. Those 100-pointers were produced at a rate of about 3,400 cases each year; that’s 40,000 bottles of perfection!

Cayuse is the brainchild of Christophe Baron, a Frenchman (from a well-established Champagne house) who visited the Walla Walla Valley in 1996, saw some fields that looked an awful lot like the Rhone, and within a year was producing wine. The majority of Cayuse’s estate vineyards are planted to Syrah, but they also produce Bordeaux-style reds, Grenache, Tempranillo, Rose, Viognier, and an unparalleled level of obsession among Washington wine dorks. Baron’s wines are known for having the “Cayuse funk,” an earthy, stinky loveliness that is very difficult to produce in regions outside of Western Europe. For my own stank-loving palate, these wines are sensory nirvana.

Onto the tasting:

1998 Quilceda Creek Merlot – $50 @ Winebid.com

Rating: 4. On the nose, violets growing out of the glass and bringing with them black licorice sticks and hints of menthol. Wow; that is an elegant nose. In the mouth, amazingly plush mouthfeel, with medium-low acid and tons of licorice all over the palate. I had a fresh, mentholated, licorice flavor in my mouth for minutes after drinking this. If it were a little cheaper, I would recommend brushing your teeth with this. Just a lovely Merlot; the best version of this varietal I have ever tasted.

2002 Cayuse Syrah En Cerise Vineyard – $65 @ Winebid.com

Rating: 4. This smelled at first like a blackberry pie in a glass. Enormous blackberry liqueur aromas wafting out of the glass, sitting on a buttery crust of autumn baking spices (cinnamon, nutmeg). With time, the nose shifted away from the sweet dark fruit and towards the funk, with dirt and cabbage coming through. I almost couldn’t bring myself to taste this because I wanted to continue smelling it all night. Almost. In the end, a mouthful of palate-coating dark fruit lifted up by bright acidity. This is dense, concentrated, and absolutely delicious.

2006 Charles Shaw Merlot – $3 @ Trader Joe’s

Rating: NR. Atrocious nose of rotten egg and burning rubber. On the palate, much less offensive: straightforward red fruit that is gone in the blink of an eye.

2007 Charles Shaw Shiraz – $3 @ Trader Joe’s

Rating: NR. Amazingly, and horrifyingly, a similar nose to the Merlot, only more muted (thanks for small mercies). On the palate, more red fruit, a little licorice, and another short finish.

I managed to go 4 for 4 in my guesses. I was confident that I got the Quilceda and Cayuse pegged, but getting the Chucks right was pure luck. To me, there was almost no difference between the two. Both were drinkable, but only if I clothes-pinned my nose. Call me an elitist, foofoo snobby-snob if you will, but that was some nasty shite. My recommendation: pay the extra few bucks and drink Columbia Crest.

Blind Tasting #9: Riesling

If I had to pick one white varietal to drink for the rest of my life, it would probably be Riesling. Why? Well, for starters, in my experience it is the most terroir-expressive white wine grape. Terroir is a dicey French word; dicey because it does not have a direct translation in English. The best definition I have heard is that terroir is anything that’s outside the control of the winegrower and winemaker. Friends of terroir are soil, weather, and geography. Enemies of terroir include over-oaking and over-ripening. Further, Riesling makes delicious wines in a number of different styles, from dry to sweet. Riesling is able to make sweet wines that are not cloying due to its high natural acidity.

Riesling is the most common grape varietal in Germany and in the Alsace region of France. These two areas tend to produce the Rieslings with the most renown and ageworthiness. Reading German wine labels can be tricky. I have found this Wikipedia article to be a good resource for decoding the difference between kabinett, spatlese, auslese, and all the other iterations.

While we waited for everyone to arrive, we had a cocktail of 2006 Chateau Ste. Michelle & Dr. Loosen Riesling Eroica – $24 @ QFC. CSM makes a number of different Rieslings, and this is their highest-end version that is not a dessert wine.

Rating: 3. Lovely nose of creamed figs that reminded me more of Semillon than of Riesling. On the palate, juicy pineapple flavors and huge acidity that for me ventured into the realm of tartness. Nice, long finish.

Then it was onto the blind tasting, where we tried 4 Washington Rieslings and 1 German:

2007 Charles Smith Wines Riesling Kung Fu Girl – $13 @ QFC

Rating: 3. Muted nose that, with vigorous swirling, revealed hints of candied pineapple. On the palate, screaming pink grapefruit on the attack and in the middle, followed by a green apple finish. Lots of bright, tart acidity.

2006 OS Winery Riesling Champoux Vineyard – $20 @ QFC.

Rating: NR. This nose smelled like I just pulled into a gas station; all rubber and gasoline. As I read up on Riesling, I found that petrol notes are actually considered a sign of quality and ageworthiness by some, but I found it off-putting. By far the most restrained palate of the night, with some fig and herbal notes coming through.

2007 Long Shadows Wineries Riesling Poet’s Leap – $20 @ Metropolitan Market

Rating: 3. The most tropical nose of the bunch. This smelled like a mango lassi, with hints of canned peaches and marshmallows as the night went on. The palate was rich with pineapple and orange, and the finish was spicy. This was tasty, linear (quick definition: linear wines bring consistent flavors across the beginning, middle, and finish of your palate), and uncomplicated.

2007 Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling Cold Creek Vineyard – $13 @ QFC

Rating: 4. Completely different aromas than the bottles I tasted over the summer. No fruit on the nose; instead entrancing saline aromas that reminded me of the Jersey shore – some combination of seashells, jetty rocks, and salty air. The palate, on the other hand, was full of rich, generous, delicious fruit (pear and citrus) and gorgeous acidity. This was the wine of the night for me and remains a steal at $13.

2007 Mönchhof Robert Eymael Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Kabinett – $21 @ McCarthy & Schiering

Rating: 4. Wow – huge, floral nose on this wine; smells like an orange blossom overflowing with nectar. On the palate, the most notable element for me was the acid, which was absolutely perfect. It gave a brightness to the grapefruit and floral flavors that I loved. This also had a long, intriguing finish of green melon.

Some of my readers were at this tasting, and I invite them to add their thoughts or tasting notes as comments.

Blind Tasting #8: Sparkling Wines

Alcohol and election-watching go hand in hand, as the booze can either amp up the celebration or ease the pain. For election night 2008, we chose to blindly taste sparkling wines: two from Washington, one from Oregon, one from Champagne, and one from Italy.

As far as my research could tell, there are only two wineries producing sparkling wine in Washington: Domaine Ste Michelle and Mountain Dome. Mountain Dome is a quirky, boutique winery out of Spokane, and their sparklers are tough to find in Seattle. I believe the only retailer carrying their products is The Tasting Room at Pike Place Market.

Onto the tasting notes:

N.V. Adami Prosecco di Valdobbiadene Garbèl – $16 @ Metropolitan Market

Rating: NR. On the nose, I got a big blast of quinine; this smelled like a vodka tonic, only with little bits of apple muddled in. On the palate, this was a snooze-fest; mostly devoid of flavor through the attack and mid-palate, and then just a hint of citrus on the finish. My least favorite of the five tasted.

2003 Argyle Brut - $25 @ Metropolitan Market

Rating: 4. Wine of the night for me, and I was certain this was the one from Champagne. Pleasantly surprised to see it was from Oregon and $35 cheaper! On the nose, total yeast-bomb; like a bakery exploded in my nose. On the taste, lots of toasty little bubbles destroying my palate (in a good way). Amazing finish of honeynut cheerios and vanilla extract with hints of red apple. This was great stuff; highly recommended!

N.V. Mountain Dome Cuvée Forté – $30 @ The Tasting Room in Pike Place Market

Rating: 3. If blindfolded, I would have guessed a Syrah; the nose was that bold. I got earth and red fruit with just a hint of yeast. The palate was rich and bready. This was my third favorite of the five tasted, just a hair behind the Champagne.

N.V. Bollinger Champagne Special Cuvée Brut – $60 @ Metropolitan Market

Rating: 3. Moderately pronounced nose of yeast; very similar to the Argyle, but more subdued. On the palate, tiny bubbles and more yeast, with just a touch of citrus. Very, very nice; my second favorite of the night.

N.V. Domaine Ste. Michelle Brut – $8 @ Metropolitan Market

Rating: NR. This bottle may have been off, judging by its skunkiness, so I am withholding tasting notes.

This was a revelatory tasting for me, as I have not drunk many sparkling wines in my life. I was blown away by the Argyle and really loved the Bollinger and the Mountain Dome as well. Interesting that the Argyle was the only wine of the night from a single vintage. The majority of sparkling wines are made using a combination of several vintages and are then deemed “N.V.” or non-vintage. I believe this is done to maintain consistency in the sparkling wine.

My parting thought is that we should all have more bubbles in our lives.