by NaKenge Adisa and Tanya Morning Star
The French notion of terroir represents a trinity of human tradition, natural environment, and varietal expression, with the grape serving as the liaison between people and nature. Indigenous to the Northern Rhône Valley, Syrah is a storyteller, and Washington State producers that craft wines with the variety use techniques long proven by their French counterparts—among them open-vat and ambient-yeast fermentation and barrel aging—to tell a story of place. As Washington enters an age of maturity, extraordinary wines are being made.
Syrah is thick-skinned, producing intensely pigmented and tannic wines that can embody tremendous textural power juxtaposed with moderate alcohol and acidity. Aromatically, the grape is typified by blue and black fruits, pepper, violets, exotic spice, herbs, and olives. Its reductive nature imparts aromas of smoked, gamey meats, resulting in compelling wines of force, finesse, and complexity.
The steep vineyards of the Rhône and the sometimes lunar-like landscape of Eastern Washington were both created by dramatic aquatic events that resulted from melting ice. Both contain igneous rocks and alluvial stones and experience wide diurnal temperature ranges, but Eastern Washington is exceedingly extreme: It sits in the rain shadow of the Cascade Mountains, enjoying intense sunshine and clear skies. The vineyards of the Northern Rhône follow a narrow strip 30 miles long and sometimes just 600 meters wide, while the terroirs of Washington cover an area nearly 150 miles squared.
A tasting of the following wines was designed to investigate how the elements of site and winemaking impact the character and identity of Washington Syrah.
Saint Cosme 2020 Côte-Rôtie AOC: Côte-Rôtie, French for “roasted hillside,” references steep, sun-drenched, southeast-facing vineyards above the Rhône River. Soils are friable, well drained, and heat-retentive, with flecks of mica-schist. The continental climate is marked by the strong, cold mistral wind and results in wines of power and longevity. Using fruit from 60-year-old vines, Louis Barruol employs whole-cluster and spontaneous fermentation followed by 12 months of élevage in 30% new barriques. This is a wine of focus and dynamism, with concentrated black fruits and delicate layers of savory, meaty, and mineral aromas.
Avennia 2019 Arnaut Syrah, Boushey Vineyard, Yakima AVA: Located in one of Washington’s cooler AVAs, the Boushey Vineyard experiences significant diurnal shifts and long sunshine hours, imparting dynamic structure. Chris Peterson aims to let the site speak for itself by fermenting on native yeasts with 15% whole cluster, then aging in 15% new French oak. Resembling the Saint Cosme Côte-Rôtie more than others in this tasting, the wine shows elegance, fullness, and purity in its alcohol and acidity. Aromas are a mosaic of concentrated blueberry and blackberry, herbs, pepper, licorice, smoked meat, and tapenade.
Betz Family Winery 2019 Domaine de Pierres Syrah, Rocks of Milton-Freewater AVA: This unique AVA is nested entirely within the Walla Walla AVA (within the Columbia Valley AVA) and sits on an alluvial fan. The soils are well-drained and heat-retentive basalt-derived gravels (think Châteauneuf-du-Pape), delivering a finely structured, ripe palate with layered aromatics of black and red fruits, pepper, savory herbs, black olive, rose, and lavender. Bob Betz, MW, uses open-vat fermentation with gentle extraction and finishing in 35% new oak. From highly refined lab analysis to optical fruit sorting at harvest, this wine is technically perfect and doesn’t obscure its purity of place. It’s so intense that the oak supports its complexity without overpowering its refined nature.
Chateau Ste. Michelle 2017 The Pundit Syrah, Wahluke Slope AVA: This AVA sits on an alluvial fan closer to the Columbia River, so it has a slightly less extreme climate; cool air descending from the Saddle Mountains preserves acidity in the fruit, which grows in a warmer area within this cooler sub-region. It’s destemmed and aged for 13 months in neutral oak barrels, giving it a pure expression of place. The resulting wine is jammy, luscious, silky, and smooth, and its power balanced against its texture and rich fruitiness makes it most appealing.
Frichette Winery 2020 Sashay Syrah, Red Mountain AVA: Red Mountain is a high desert slope covered in brownish soil of loam and volcanic ash that appears red when the light hits it. The smallest and warmest of Washington’s AVAs, it’s an arid landscape of extremes. The fruit is destemmed and fermented in small open bins, then aged in 25% new oak barrels for 18 months. We see a completely different expression of Syrah in Sashay: Juicy black fruits, opulent tannins, soft acidity, sweet tobacco, and spice nicely capture the pure elemental intensity of the site’s hot days and cool nights, while vanilla is imparted by the oak. Frichette Winery is run by a wife-and-husband team whose philosophy is “Be in every moment!”
DeLille Cellars 2018 Grand Ciel Vineyard Syrah, Red Mountain AVA: The Grand Ciel Vineyard yields some of the most ageworthy wines in Washington with an undeniable signature of place: power, tension, and length. The soil is uniquely calcareous (white/high calcium content), allowing Syrah to ripen into autumn without losing acidity. The fruit is cold-soaked and spontaneously fermented in open vats, then aged in 30% new barriques. A sultry combination of red and black fruits, smokiness, and minerality alongside rich coffee and spice elements, it finishes with intensity and complexity.
Syrah is an intoxicating narrator for Washington’s unique and emerging wine culture. By exploring meaning and identity through wine, we discover ourselves as tasters and makers within local and global wine culture, encouraging people to show up with humility, curiosity, and pleasure!
