2016 The Tribe Vineyard Syrah

Grown in the 3-acre The Tribe Vineyard and planted at 3.5’ x 3.5’ spacing. Biodynamically farmed. The two key words for The Tribe Vineyard Syrah are intensity and density. This wine is savoury, and distinctly different from the Sur Echalas. There is more fruit purity here, less funk on the nose. It is a bit less driven by the aromatic salts so characteristic of the stones of southern Walla Walla and brings with it a sense of refinement and delicacy. Finessed and textural. It is a bit friendlier and more approachable compared with the Sur Echalas with a delicious balance and still those characteristic accents of grey salts and dried, salted meats. (ECB)

Full, bright medium red. Alluring, vibrant scents of raspberry, steak tartare and Benedictine herbs are lifted by a floral topnote and complicated by faint barnyard note that screams out Rhône Valley. Then dense, savory and alive, with its intense red raspberry fruit joined by a slightly meaty wildness and perked up on the back by black pepper. A classic Old World style of Syrah with terrific definition and lift and a very long, rising finish featuring dusty, well-supported tannins. This utterly captivating wine boasts rare persistence for seven-year-old vines and should age well.

The 2016 Syrah The Tribe is largely in the same mold with a gamy, meaty, backward profile. Smoked meats, earthy dark fruits, ground pepper, and wood smoke are all present in this medium to full-bodied, concentrated Syrah that’s going to benefit from 3-5 years of bottle age and cruise for 15-20 years.