K Vintners Morrison Lane Syrah, Walla Walla Valley, USA

K酒莊莫里森小路西拉干紅葡萄酒

點擊次數(shù)：3049

The 2014 Syrah Morrison Lane Vineyard from Walla Walla offers a perfumed bouquet of incense, white pepper, plum and hoisin sauce, as well as full-bodied richness, building tannin and a great finish. It needs short term cellaring to integrate those tannin, but is an impressive Syrah.

Another wine that overachieves is the 2013 Syrah Morrison Lane. Easily the best vintage of this cuvee to date, it has a killer bouquet of olive tapenade, grounded, peppered meats and a core of darker fruits. Medium to full-bodied, seamless, elegant and with fine tannin, it’s terrific and will drink nicely for 10-15 years.

The 2012 Syrah Morrison Lane is one of the more classic, straight and focused Syrahs in the lineup. Showing lots blackberry, kirsch, ground herbs and pepper, it's full-bodied, balanced and even elegant, with plenty of tannic grip. Give it a year and enjoy bottles through 2027.

The 2010 Syrah Morrison Lane (100% Syrah) comes from some of the oldest Syrah vines in Walla Walla. Aged in 30% new French oak, it’s a beauty with notions of black raspberry, kirsch, pepper, big minerality and hints of leather all soaring from the glass. This is followed by a classy, yet structured Syrah that has high quality tannin and rock star length on the finish. As with all of Charles’ wines, it can be enjoyed in its youth due to the texture and overall balance, yet it won’t hit its stride until a handful of years after the vintage. It should age gracefully for 10-12 years, easily. Drink now-2025. In the top tier of producers in Washington State, wild man Charles Smith fashions singular, exotic wines that never lack for richness or texture. While his wines can push the limits in some vintages and be slightly controversial, there’s nothing controversial or over the top with these 2010s and 2011s and they have beautiful purity of fruit, clean, integrated acid profiles and solid underlying structure. In almost all cases, given the quality, they represent incredible values. While this was a slight marathon tasting, when the wines are this good, it’s always easy to keep your motivation. Focusing on low-yields in the vineyards, the winemaking here is straight-forward with almost all of the wines seeing some whole cluster fermentation, time on lees and aging primarily in neutral French oak. www.kvintners.com

The 2008 Syrah Morrison Lane gives up an enticing bouquet of sandalwood, spice box, garrigue, game, and blueberry. Intense, sweetly-fruited, and impeccably balanced, this lengthy effort will evolve for 2-3 years and drink well through 2020+. I met up with Charles at his new wine bar in Walla Walla before we drove out to the winery in his 1949 Cadillac, a picture of which is on the web-site (not the deluxe model like my grandfather used to drive). It is always a highlight of my annual trip to Washington because in addition to the tasting, you get a performance but, after all is said and done, when it comes to making wine, Charles Smith is all business. He knows where the vineyards are, he believes in amazingly low yields, and in the winery he is a non-interventionist. All of the following wines were made with native ferments and were bottled without fining or filtration. Tel. (509) 526-5230; www.kvintners.com