2020 Syrah, Red Willow

Red Willow vineyard is the most Western vineyard in Yakima Valley and where the first Syrah in Washington state was planted, over 40 years ago, at a steep hillside site called the Chapel Block, inspired by a famous Chapel in Hermitage in northern Rhone. Syrah grown there produces a very distinctive and powerful style of Syrah. The 2020 vintage is our favorite so far from the vineyard, showing the distinctive Red Willow aromatics of floral and game on the nose, along with a structured, blackberry and chalky minerality on the pallet. Its a graceful wine that shows how we use our lower alcohol approach to the pick, along with a whole-cluster fermentation, to retain the grape's natural acidity and bring a spicy intensity to the wine. 100% whole-cluster and aged 12 months in neutral French oak barrels. Native fermentation. Unfiltered.