2012 John Lewis Reserve Syrah

The 2012 Syrah John Lewis comes from the Les Collines Vineyard in Walla Walla and is 100% Syrah that saw 80% whole clusters and 18 months in mostly neutral French oak puncheons. Tight, backward and nicely structured, with bright acidity, it has layered aromatics of black fruits, black olives, cracked pepper, dried violets and tobacco leaf. This is a sensational Syrah that has deserve 4-5 years of bottle age, and will have 20-25 years of overall longevity.

(13.7% alcohol; vinified with 80% of its stems; 18% new oak): Bright red-ruby. Knockout perfume of cherry, licorice and sexy brown spices. Densely packed and distinctly saline; much less open today than the Lagniappe, with fruit in the deep background. Also has a more powerful tannic spine. This baby should be a long ager but it’s extremely closed today. Then again, it won’t be released until next year, at which point it may well merit an even higher score.