2015 Va Piano Vineyards Syrah Portteus Vineyard Black Label

(14.8% alcohol; vinified with 60% whole clusters and aged in 40% new oak; 4.07 pH): Bright red-ruby. Slightly liqueur-like raspberry on the nose, with complicating notes of dusty spices, coffee, menthol and charred oak. Surprisingly sweet on entry, then much more closed and gripping on the back half, where the wine's oak element currently clashes with its tannins (Wylie notes that he uses more aggressive oak here for a "more aggressive vineyard"). Slightly disjointed and rough in the early going and in need of some cellaring. These vines on ancient volcanic soil represent the second oldest Syrah block in Washington after Red Willow, according to Justin Wylie.