Round Table: Walla Walla, Pt. 4

The last installment of the Walla Walla Round Table, we bring you the Syrahs (at long last!). Not nearly a complete list of everything Walla2 has to offer, our Round Table session with scads of bottles brought back from Walla Walla was a daunting one. But, with a panel rostered with seasoned and disciplined professionals, we studiously worked our way through the lineup to bring you a mere sampling of our long weekend in Onion Town. Now, you’ll have to get over there yourself to try these and the myriad other wines flowing through the land of many rivers.

The Syrahs

Saviah Cellars
2006 Syrah
Red Mountain
$30

On the nose, striking notes of dark fruit and smoked meats with floral characteristics peaking through. On the palate, it has even more sizzle and pep, with smoke, meat and intense, dark fruit seasoned with anise, while maintaining a surprising freshness. Expressive and complex, it’s the total package of Syrahs. An overall favorite of the panel.

Saviah Cellars
2006 Syrah
Walla Walla Valley
$32

With less oak than you would expect, this WWV Syrah greets you with herbs and spices. Light and elegant on the palate, it’s a refreshing switch from the intensity of most Syrahs, while it still has enough oomph to go the distance on the finish with flavors of cherries, plums and olives.

Saviah Cellars
2006 Syrah
Stillwater Creek Vineyards, Columbia Valley
$30

Spices and smoked meats come through on the nose, and carry through on the palate with bacon, dark fruits and baking spices. The flavor profile has a nice arc across the mid-palate, well-balanced and not too heavy, but haunting you with a finish like a whisper in a long corridor.

Dusted Valley
2006 Reserve Syrah
Walla Walla Valley
$45

On the nose, it’s a carnivorous feast of smoked meat, teriyaki and hot dogs with a chocolaty mole sauce and some floral components. The big meatiness carries through to the palate. Big, rich and chewy, you find notes of black olive brine with rustic qualities and nice fruits. This isn’t an elegant wine, but it’s extremely well-balanced, like a sumo wrestler instead of a ballet dancer. And like a sumo wrestler, it’s a force to be reckoned with all the way through the long finish.

Trust Cellars
2007 Syrah
Walla Walla Valley
$28

At first whiff, this Walla Walla Syrah throws a delicious blend of black licorice wafers and mossy potting soil at you, along with ripe fruit. Diving in, you find Bing cherries and violets with nice backbone and structure, aided by the 11% Cab Sauv in the mix. When we tasted, it was still a little young, but it showed promise of becoming more polished over time, and it’s definitely worth a revisit (or two or three).

Ash Hollow
2006 Syrah
Walla Walla Valley
$32

This Syrah is expressive and earthy as hell, like you would expect from a Pinot. Dark berries and baking chocolate and spices join the earthy notes on the nose causing you to wear your stemware like a respirator for a while. On the palate, it has a freshness and brightness to it, while maintaining the earthiness amid a nice tannic structure. Unfiltered and unfined, this juice is the real deal, and has a nice arc of a flavor profile.

K Vintners
2007 “The Deal” Syrah
Sundance Vineyard, Wahluke Slope
Sold Out

On the nose, you immediately get a sense of the French oak and 15.5% alcohol, while floral notes and fruit reduction come wafting through. On the palate, ripe fruit continues with added notes of dark chocolate and olives. It finishes sweet, sexy and opulent, and would pair really well with barbecued meats. While not complex as a Tolstoy novel, it’s really enjoyable.

Va Piano Vineyards
2007 Syrah
Columbia Valley
$38

This bottle offers everything you would expect from a Columbia Valley Syrah with no surprises. The classic characteristics of ripe blueberries with black cherry, plum and fruit reduction reverberate throughout this lush vino like a four-chord pop song. Well-made with good balance and structure, it’s friendly and approachable and won’t overpower the conversation with cerebral acrobatics.

Tertulia Cellars
2006 Les Collines Syrah
Walla Walla Valley
$30

A wine you can actually use the word “bouquet” on, it has a pretty nose of violets and spice alongside the classic blueberry notes. On the palate, it has really nice texture, and the floral aspects from the nose continue on through the finish. This is an elegant Syrah, well-made and well-drank.