Intensely ripe yet fresh dark cherry and plum mingle with mouthwateringly savory veal stock in the Betz 2009 Syrah La Cote Patriarche, whose typically carnal personality is also revealed in the way its tannic chew seems to segue into suggestions of rare but charred red meat. Crushed stone, salt, and black pepper in a sustained finish add to the interest and metaphorically sinister personality of a Syrah that conveys an exceptional sense of energy and freshness for its vintage, and is likely to be more expressive in a couple of years as well as to perform rivetingly for the better part of the decade. “I don’t think I have ever seen a relationship between grower and winemaker in Washington like what (Red Willow proprietor) Mike Sauer had with the late Dave Lake,” notes Betz, “and I don’t think anyone’s going to replace that, but what Mike’s team does brings to what we do an attention to detail (whereby) nothing happens by chance.” That certainly fits the image Betz conveys of his own approach and explains what led him to name this cuvee with Sauer in mind.
Like so many of Washington’s most influential and successful wine personalities, Bob Betz is a veteran of Ste Michelle, for whom he directed promotion and educational outreach, in the process earning an M.W. Betz and his wife, Cathy, commenced their own operation in 1997, committed to blending across a range of the state’s best vineyards, and they built an attendant facility in 2005. “Since 2005,” he noted as we toured historic Red Willow Vineyard with its owner-manager Mike Sauer, “things are pretty constant – same rows, same blocks” not only from Red Willow but from the other growers with whom Betz works. Betz exudes self-consciousness and meticulousness, and in traveling around viticultural Washington, one quickly realizes that his advice is eagerly sought by and generously accorded colleagues of all ages and levels of experience. In April of last year, the Washington wine world was shocked by the news that the Betzes had sold their winery to South Africans Steve and Bridgit Griessel, whose backgrounds are in marketing. The plan is apparently for things to otherwise go on as before, with Betz calling the shots in winemaking indefinitely. He works very closely with all of his suppliers; fruit is subjected to sophisticated and stringent sorting; and fermentation is by inoculation with a wide range of specialized yeasts – like other aspects of winery protocol guided, Betz is eager to make clear, by an experimental spirit and scientific rigor. “We’re fans of efficient fermentations,” he elucidates, “so 7-10 days on the skins, and we’ll often press before dryness. We like efficient malolactic, too, so lots of stirring and we keep the temperature at 68-70 F. until it’s done.” The wines from Rhone varietals are raised in close to half new barriques for 12 months – except for Chapitre 3, which, like the four months longer-matured wines from Bordelais varieties, sees two-thirds new wood; the balance of barrels are exclusively second year; and wines aren’t racked from barrel until bottling unless deemed to show signs that they are demanding it. The Betz Syrahs are typically released around their second birthdays, while the wines from Bordelais bottlings aren’t released until six months later.
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