Another Microsoft wine lover left the company and started a new winery, a pretty common thing up here. What's uncommon is just how good his new wines are. I recently tasted these three:
2015 The Walls Vineyards 'The Ramparts' GSM Red Mountain
52% Grenache, 32% Mourvedre, 13% Counoise and 3% Syrah, all Red Mountain fruit. Radically spicy nose and lively on the palate, without the oak that weighs down most WA GSM blends. Bravo! 486 cases produced, 14.4% abv.
2015 The Walls Vineyards 'Stanley Groovy' Red Mountain Red Blend
An exciting red blend of 55% Touriga Nacional, 21% CS, 13.5% Souzao, 9% Tinta Cao and a smidge of Tempranillo, all from Red Mountain. Tangy, spicy and exotic, it's aged half in concrete for freshness and half in oak for texture and the result is a unique and compelling WA red wine. 574 cases produced, 13.9% abv.
2015 The Walls Cabernet Sauvignon 'Curiositas'
What the last reviewer said: "Excellent, dark fruit, earthy backbone, a little oak". I picked up a bit of mint, too. Stands out from many of it's CS brethren because it's bravely 100% Cab Sauv (kinda unusual up here not to have a small percentage of other usual suspects) and the wine benefits from that direct commitment. 331 cases produced, 14.4% abv.
