WTN: 1998 Columbia winery Red Willow Syrah

Following on from the interesting 1996 Cabernet Sauvignon 'Otis vineyard', this seemed a logical wine to try. It didn't quite appeal in the same way, but wasn't far off.

1998 Columbia Winery Syrah Red Willow Vineyard - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Yakima Valley (11/27/2009)
Reasonably deep hued purple, but certainly not in the 'sump oil' style. No sign of age at the rim.

Very attractive nose, covering both sweet (red fruits) and savoury (a slightly earthy smoky bacon accent and a faint hint of back pepper).

On the palate a little more fruit dominated than the nose suggested and it's quite viscous - the alc % covered by the import sticker, but I'm guessing it's over 14%. Only on the finish does the earlier elegance of the nose return. It may not be a very long finish, but it's both complex and classy.

Overall almost very impressive, but just a little too voluptuous for my preference (even though it's far from OTT).

regards

Ian

[Jenise]

Ian, I wish I had a picture of the Yakima Valley to show you--you would instantly see the reason for the voluptuosness you rightly found in the wine. It's a big hot dry desert floor. So much so that I was shocked to visit there last April for the first time--it was far from the lush green fertile place I'd imagined, and there are virtually no slopes, no higher ground spared from groundswelling rainwater and summer heat as is the case in the slopier Columbia Valley. The wines are typically fatter and more alcoholic as a result and therefore the wines most of the denizens of this forum would favor least. Kind of like Lodi and Paso Robles in California, and the Barossa Valley in Australia. But leave it to David Lake, god rest his soul, to make the most European version possible from those grapes. It's almost unavoidable to get near the top with Yakima fruit, but he always managed to never, as you observe, go over.

Jenise
Many thanks for a description that makes pictures superfluous
regards
Ian

Nicely done, Jenise. Good explanatory/descriptive on the Yakima and wines therefrom.

I was very lucky to be there when David Lake and Doug McCrea were beginning their campaign to make Syrah a major variety in Washington. With David it was the focus on specific estates in an effort to show terroir and site specificity, largely through Cabernet Franc and Syrah. With Doug it was the aggregation of Rhone-style grapes initially (he had some astonishingly good blends in the early vintages).

Their pioneering work wasn't always readily accepted, but they both stuck to it. David was able to convince AV/Columbia to provide him with the ability to develop some of the stunning wines he did then; Doug was able to accomplish what he did with absolute tenacity of purpose---and talking and charming and convincing everyone he met.

Both showed early on the promise of what Syrah could do, David from single sites, Doug from blends. And they both provided me with some intense drinking experiences too.

It's interesting to look at the hundreds of wineries scattered across the state now and be able to look back at the genesis of much of that.

(Oh, and if I recall correctly---I am suffering from CRS syndrome more often these days---1998 was one of the colder years and thus should have been easier to bring in with a Euro framework. Tended to be very closed, tight, almost green and unyielding when young. It's obviously blossomed out well. But the, that was a characteristic of David's style---he took a lot of flack for not making instantly accesible wines. )