2015 Avennia Syrah Arnaut Boushey Vineyard
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Tasting notes
The 2015 Syrah Boushey Vineyard Arnaut is impressive, wafting from the glass with a youthfully reticent bouquet of crushed currants, pencil lead and subtle dark chocolate. At this stage, there's more drama on the palate, where the wine is medium to full-bodied, deep and concentrated, with a lovely line of succulent acidity that lends it excellent tension and delineation. Forget it in the cellar for several years before following it for a decade.
Critic scores
Average Score
Richard Hemming MW, jancisrobinson.com
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
From one of my favorite sites in Yakima Valley, the 2015 Syrah Arnaut Boushey Vineyard (100% Syrah aged 16 months in 15% new French oak) is inky purple-colored with a gorgeous bouquet of ripe black raspberries, plums, white pepper, spice, and scorched earth. It's deep, full-bodied, and beautifully concentrated, with fine tannin, and has a great finish, all making for a brilliant Washington State Syrah. It's going to keep for 10-15 years. I continue to consider Chris Peterson’s Avennia estate to be one of the best in Washington State and he’s been making world-class wines for a number of years now. He releases two white wines: A Sauvignon Blanc called Oliane and a Rhone blend of Roussanne and Marsanne called La Perle. The reds are broken up into a Rhône/Bordeaux groups, with the Rhônes including a Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre blend called Justine, and two single-vineyard Syrahs, the Le Corbeau from Mays’ Discovery Vineyard in Horse Heaven Hills and the Arnaut from Dick Boushey’s Boushey Vineyard on the western side of the Yakima Valley. The Bordeaux releases are built around the appellation blends and include the entry-level Gravura, Valery (Merlot dominated), and Sestina (Cabernet Sauvignon dominated). In addition, Peterson also makes a pure Cabernet Franc from Champoux Vineyard in the Horse Heaven Hills and a pure Cabernet Sauvignon from very old vines in the Red Willow Vineyard. As I hope these reviews show, these are brilliant wines readers need to seek out.
15% whole bunch. Rich, dark colour with a lot of peppery black fruit and fine, bitter tannin. Volume aplenty. (RH)
(15% alcohol; from vineyard blocks planted in 1994 and 1996, all Phelps clone): Bright ruby. Aromas of blackberry, boysenberry and licorice pastille. Juicy, intense and deep, with enticing dark berry and black cherry fruit flavors enlivened by crushed rock. Wonderfully dense and energetic wine, if still a bit youthfully tight. This is more about fruit than the Le Corbeau Syrah, which offers game and earth nuances, as well as less meaty than the 2014 Arnaut. The bright, persistent finish features fine-grained tannins that spread out to saturate the teeth and palate.