2015 DeLille Cellars Syrah Grand Ciel

The flagship Syrah is the 2015 Syrah Grand Ciel Vineyard and it’s all from a single vineyard on Red Mountain, was completely destemmed, and aged in 30% new French oak. Similarly colored to the Signature Syrah, it offers more black cherry, currants, scorched earth, smoke, and mineral characteristics to go with a big, rich, concentrated style on the palate. Beautifully balanced, with both tannin and acidity, it needs 2-3 years of bottle age and will shine over the following decade. Owner/Winemaker Chris Upchurch compared the 2015s from Washington State to the 2009s from Bordeaux, and given the sweltering heat in 2015, I understand the comparison. However, the 2015s come across as more focused and classic in style, in part, I suspect to the vines shutting down throughout the summer and I think the true phenolics actually lag the 2012s, 2014s, and 2016s. These wines are concentrated, have notable purity, and building tannin. They’re going to benefit from short-term cellaring. As usual, I tasted the barrel samples during my visit at the estate and the bottled wines at my office in Colorado.

The 2015 Syrah Grand Ciel is a killer bottle of wine that’s made in decent quantities. It offers a dark, full-bodied, incredibly pure style as well as classic Red Mountain notes of scorched earth, graphite, dark chocolate and black and red raspberry fruit. There’s some tannin on the finish, but they’re ripe and polished; it has terrific mid-palate depth and plenty of length, all suggesting it’s going to evolve gracefully.