2015 Betz Family Syrah La Côte Patriarche
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Tasting notes
The 2015 Syrah La Cote Patriarche is a small step back from the sensational 2014, yet is still an incredible wine. Coming from some of the oldest Syrah vines in the state, planted in the Red Willow Vineyard in the Yakima Valley, it offers beautiful blue fruits, spring flowers, licorice, and sappy herb-like aromas and flavors. It’s fresh, elegant, and silky, with fabulous purity of fruit and a medium to full-bodied richness and depth. It’s a beautiful Syrah to enjoy over the coming 10-15 years. Owned by the Griessel family since 2011, Betz Family Winery still has Washington State’s incredible ambassador of Bob Betz firmly involved in the winery, with the wines made by the talented Louis Skinner since 2013. This is an undeniable reference point estate for the Washington State and the wines go from strength to strength. Today, they are at the top of the hierarchy in just about every vintage. In addition, while it would be easy to sit back and maintain the status quo at an established estate like this, they continue to push for improvements in quality at every level, purchasing an optical sorting machine in 2015, creating a second wine, doing an even more strict selection for their top cuvées, and experimenting with stems in the ferments as well as with different sizes (and types) of vessels in their vinification and aging regimes. This is a terrific, world-class estate that readers need to try, and both the 2014s and 2015s are incredible wines.
Critic scores
Average Score
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
(made from a 1986 block and a 2000 planting; entirely destemmed): Bright ruby. A note of sexy gamey reduction to the aromas of blackberry, flint, lilac and spices dissipated with air. Concentrated, firm yet pliant wine with considerable power and fruit intensity. Still a bit youthfully stunted but the subtle finishing notes of licorice, menthol and herbs go on and on. This very primary, somewhat clenched wine calls for patience; I wanted a bit more sweetness of fruit but that may yet come. And extended aeration made me optimistic that this Syrah will eventually merit a higher score.
Both Bob and Louis commented on the consistency of the vineyard block for this cuvee, and the 2015 La Cote Patriarche is another terrific wine. This cuvee comes from some of the oldest Syrah vines in the state, and I’m sure this has more than a little to do with the consistency, as the old vines are much more resilient to heat spikes and difficult weather. This 2015 shows a perfumed, black and blue fruit, floral and sappy herbs-driven personality to go with full-bodied richness, ripe, silky tannin and fabulous purity. Elegant, fresh, complex and nuanced, it’s a terrific Syrah from this first-rate team, and from Washington State.