2012 Avennia - Syrah Arnaut
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Tasting notes
Quite intense, 2012 Syrah Arnaut Boushey Vineyard is smoky and complex, with depths of grilled sage, green olives, bacon fat and crushed rocks. Seamlessly silky, with a lovely balance of savory and sweet, this flows across the palate with ease, guided by brilliant acidity as ripe black fruits slowly saturate. Gently tannic, it tapers off with a salted licorice tinge and a black tea quality that lingers on. This is a wonderfully balanced and harmonious effort that still has a decade or more of positive evolution
Critic scores
Richard Hemming MW, jancisrobinson.com
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
The 2012 Arnaut Syrah Boushey Vineyard is a blockbuster and has more richness and depth than the 2011, as well as more finesse than the 2010. Offering full-bodied aromas and flavors of crème de cassis, violets, tobacco leaf and ground pepper, this beauty has remarkable purity of fruit, an expansive, opulent texture, sweet tannin, and a brilliant finish. It’s drinking great today but certainly has another decade or more of longevity. 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.
The best wine from Chris to date is the 2012 Syrah Boushey Vineyard Arnaut, and this smoking Syrah comes all from vines planted in 1994 and 1996, saw 15% stem inclusion during fermentation, and 16 months in only 15% new French oak. Showing the firm, focused, yet pure and concentrated style of the estate, it offers awesome notes of black fruits, bacon fat, black olive and smoked meats. Full-bodied, with a stacked mid-palate, ample texture and a big finish, give bottles 2-3 years in the cellar, and enjoy through 2027.
Rich, meaty and juicy – really excellent clarity and power. Beautiful violet fragrance, really engaging and cerebral style, but with loads of enjoyable primary fruit. A real standout, with great length and complexity. (RH)