2014 Yellow Bird Vineyard Syrah
Tasting notes
Brooding, complex, and rich yet surprisingly elegant. Aromatics of violets, white pepper, and pipe tobacco open up to a core of crushed stone and granite enveloped in blackberry and boysenberry compote. Espresso, dark chocolate, and exotic spices accentuate a long expansive finish. Compelling. If you have the patience, we recommend aging this wine for at least another two years. Should easily age well over ten years from release. Decant two hours prior to enjoying.
The fruit produced from this vineyard is exceptional. Because of higher elevation and dry-farming, these particular clones grow sparsely clad clusters with tiny berries. The grapes were handpicked in late September. Approximately half of the fruit was destemmed and used for whole berry fermentation; the other half was left intact for whole cluster fermentation. A five-day cold soak was used. Punch-downs were completed three times per day by hand with a rack-and-return performed every other day during the peak of fermentation. Only yeast hulls were added to the wine during fermentation. The wine stayed on skins for thirty-nine days before being pressed. Pressed wine and free-run wine were kept separate throughout the wine’s life until final blending.
The wine was aged for seventeen months in all French oak, a judicious amount of which was new. The wine was racked once after secondary fermentation was complete. A considerable amount of effort was made to expose the wine to as little oxygen as possible. The wine was bottled by hand, unfiltered and unfined in late March 2016. 166 cases produced.
| Download Wine Notes |
| Varietal Composition | 94% Syrah co-fermented with 6% Viognier |
| Appellation | Walla Walla Valley |
| Vineyard | Yellow Bird Vineyard |
| Acid | 5.9 g/L |
| PH | 3.77 |
| Alcohol | 14.80% |
| Volume | 750 ml |
High atop the foothills of the Blue Mountains sits Yellow Bird Vineyard. Owned by the Chan family and farmed by the venerable Kenny Hart, the vineyard is dry farmed and uses sustainable farming practices. Deep Loess soil with excellent drainage. The blocks we use sit at 1,400 feet in elevation. The high elevation and naturally struggling vines produce fruit with great depth and concentration. Both the clones have tiny berries and sparse clusters - ugly by a commercial producers standpoint but beautiful from ours. These tiny berries create wine with firm natural tannins and black-opaque color.
