2023 Martin Woods Syrah The Rocks
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Tasting notes
Tasted as a barrel sample, the 2023 Syrah The Rocks District Of Milton Freewater spent 18 months on the lees. It’s savory, structured, and infused with lavender, boysenberry, dark earth, wet stones, and olive tapenade, and made with 50% stem inclusion via a “sandwich method” (stems in the center). Full-bodied but not heavy, with silky texture and youthful fruit, drink 2027-2040.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Erin Brooks, Wine Advocate
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The 2023 Syrah comes from the River Rock and Rockbar Vineyards in the Rocks District. It was fermented with 50% whole clusters and matured for 19 months. The nose is bursting with scents of cassis, dried plums, green olive, cigar ash, spearmint and violets. The full-bodied palate is elegantly styled with understated, savory flavors, rounded tannins, juicy acidity and a floral finish.
A tasting from several barrels, the first barrel tasted for the 2023 Syrah The Rocks was vibrant and energetic, with lifted notes of violets and fresh poppy berries, with nothing green about it. It captures the freshness of Syrah. Tasting the same wine out of the Oregon oak, the wine was dark but lifted and pure, capturing all the savory aromas you want in Syrah, with fresh blackberries, olives, and fresh lavender. It has a chalky texture, with ripe tannins and a note of saline. It’s fantastic. Evan is making some of the most compelling Syrah and has a real perspective that he’s bringing to the game, and I encourage readers to check out what he’s doing.
The 2023 Syrah The Rocks District opens with a beguiling bouquet of sweet lavender and violet pastille, olive, stone dust and nuances of spiced orange peel. Distinctly savory within, it presents silken textures and saline mineral tones up front, followed by citrus-infused red and black fruits that add tension toward the close. Perfumed and long, the 2023 leaves a spicy sensation and an air of incense that lingers. In 2023, Evan Woods allowed maceration to continue for 45 days to find more of a Cornas-like structure from The Rocks.