Wine & Spirits - February 2021 - 39

Year's Best US Syrah & Rhône Varieties
91 | Andrew Januik

$60

90 | The Walls

$38

2017 Columbia Valley Los Molinos ^ This
blend of grenache, mourvedre and syrah is
wonderfully spicy, with scents of clove, mace
and rye, graced by a smoky syrah back note.
The flavors are full-on: The plum fruit has
a ruddy Worcestershire savor, suggesting
something slathered with barbecue sauce
would make a nice pairing. -P.J.C. §
522309
2018 Red Mountain The Ramparts ^ A GSM
that expresses the warmth of Red Mountain,
this is a heady red with an enveloping scent
of spiced cherries and plum. Those scents
follow into mouth-filling flavors, with firm,
chewy tannins for brisket. -P.J.C. §
522093

90 | Liminal

$60

2018 Columbia Valley GSM ^ Redolent
with pretty, red-fruited perfume, this wine's
peppery brightness keeps it lifted. There's
plenty of backbone here, drawing against the
extracted strawberry fruit, a heady match for
barbecue. -P.J.C. §
522104

90 | Time & Direction

$30

2018 Walla Walla Valley Diamond Cutter's
Red Blend (Best Buy) ^ Predominantly syrah,
this wine starts out in the grip of reduction,
though with a day's air it becomes smoky,
woodsy and delicately savory, the fruit
brighter than the aroma might lead you to
expect-juicy red-berries warmed by the
afternoon sun. For duck sausage. -P.J.C. §
522180

lighter than most Rocks bottlings, with a
bright, welcome tension. -P.J.C. §

92 | Forgeron Cellars

$45

92 | Gramercy Cellars

$36

91 | Love That Red

$53

2018 Yakima Valley Boushey Vineyard
Grenache ^ Light in color, there's a hint of
tobacco and maple sugar in this wine to go
with the strawberry scents. The flavors are
fresh and brightly delivered, structured more
by acid than tannin, with a vibrancy that's
ready for a chill and charcuterie. -P.J.C. §
522034
2017 Columbia Valley Third Man
Grenache ^ This grenache includes 15 percent
syrah and 10 percent mourvedre, all coming
from the Olsen Vineyard on the eastern end
of the Yakima Valley. It's vinous and lean,
with peppery red berry scents and a lively
palate. A sappy freshness offsetting lean,
leathery tannins. Still a little jittery, it's likely
to integrate with age. For the cellar. -P.J.C. §
522135

WA S H I N GT O N GRE N A CHE

The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater
Fillies & Mares Grenache ^ This Rocks red
combines fruit from the 2016 and 2017
vintage, maximizing the savor of the Rocks
in its scents of mushroom, forest floor and
touch of funk. The flavors are fruit driven:
heady raspberry tethered by savory notes
in the smoothly delivered tannins, ideal for
lamb meatballs. -P.J.C. §

94 | Echolands

WASHINGTON MOURVEDRE

88 | H3

$15

2018 Horse Heaven Hills Red Blend (Best
Buy) ^ Bright and forward with assertive red
plum fruit, this wine's savory, cured-meat
flavors and carob-scented tannins offer
plenty of complexity for the price. -P.J.C. §
522287

$38

2018 Walla Walla Valley Riviere-Galets
Vineyard Grenache ^ Echolands is MS/MW
Doug Frost's new Walla Walla venture, which
includes a vast new vineyard in the Mill
Creek section of the valley. While that and
other properties take shape, Frost and his
partners are purchasing fruit from some very
impressive sites, like this one, in the Rocks
of Milton-Freewater. This grenache starts off
smoky and lean, with sour cherry scents, and
a whiff of precipitate minerals that hints at
the wine's energy. And it is just that, vibrant,
lifted, full of movement, the palate giving
off a kind of " essence of Rocks " -exotic and
a touch funky. Even so, the wine is notably

92 | Forgeron Cellars

$45

92 | Prospice

$45

2018 Red Mountain Heart of the Hill
Vineyard Mourvedre ^ This mourvedre leads
with red fruits-strawberry and raspberry-
adorned by a hint of smoke and funk. The
wine feels like it will burst for all of its
mouthwatering freshness, " like ten pounds
of fruit in a five-pound bag, " said one taster.
Still young, well worth cellaring. Or decant
it for steak. -P.J.C. §
522122
2018 Horse Heaven Hills Alder Ridge
Vineyard Mourvedre ^ Flirting with richness,
this mourvedre offers plenty of savory and
herbal elements to keep it in line. Its licorice,
unsweetened-cocoa and fruit-leather scents
adorn dark-cherry flavors. The wine's got
some baby fat; cellar then serve with smoked
turkey breast. -P.J.C. §

WASHINGTON SYR AH
COLUMBIA VALLEY

522035

93 | Gramercy Cellars

$42

2017 Columbia Valley L'Idiot du Village
Mourvedre ^ Greg Harrington's affinities for
mourvedre continue to evolve with each
vintage. This one progresses like a rose in
bloom over the course of three days. It shifts
from a strawberry-scented red with granular
tannins to something more dynamic,
seamless and complete, humming with
lively acids and juicy red fruits. This was a
great pairing with my smoked Thanksgiving
turkey. -P.J.C. §

94 | Gramercy Cellars

$25

2017 Columbia Valley Lower East Syrah
(Best Buy) ^ This is from Greg Harrington's
tier of wines meant to broaden the winery's
regional reach to the Columbia Valley. The
blend comes from Les Collines, Forgotten
Hills and Holy Roller vineyards-the latter
a new parcel owned by Chris Figgins, in the
Rocks. The wine leads with scents of mocha
and olive-the Rocks showing its stuff-
while the flavors feel a bit warmer, with a
seductively plush texture, limned by violetWINE & SPIRITS

FEBRUARY 2021

39
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Wine & Spirits - February 2021

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