Lagniappe Red Willow Syrah

Initially, my comment was this isn’t a style of Syrah I seek out. Not that it isn’t delicious (because it is), but normally from WA/OR, I want some funk. That being said, the more I drank from the bottle, the more I scratched my head thinking “wow, this is better than I thought”. This is an in between of cool climate Cali Syrah + non funk driven WA state Syrah. I didn’t pick up a lot of stem inclusion here regarding greenness. Cracked black pepper, black currant, loads of violet/potpourri and some spiced jelly aromatics. The palate, over the course of 8hrs in the bottle, blossomed to a profile of herb crusted blackberries, jerky, spiced rhubarb and a crunchy/tannic bite on the finish that brings you back to Syrah. Delicious now, but probably has another 2-3yrs until peak.

Smoky ash-pit minerality leads on the nose with richly extracted berry ooze. Nice baking spice notes. Rich but balanced in the mouth. Great purity of fruit and balance of savory elements. Pretty good acids too. Long long finish. Tannins there but submerged. Really fine.

I really want to like this wine...it’s just flat. Watery and lacks anything that gives verve and edge. Not sure this has much life left.

Speaks of Cote Rotie, blast of minerals on the nose, some cured meats. Dark fruits on the palate with nice acid on the mid palate. Ambers and smoke on the finish with a nice soy element.

The 2014 Lagniappe is an outstanding bottling from Gramercy Cellars, this Syrah was sourced from the Forgotten Hills, Red Willow and Minick Vineyards. The wine underwent 66% whole cluster fermentation and was aged for 18 months in used puncheons prior to bottling. This shows wonderful aromatics of dried herbs, red cherry, red raspberry, rose petals, Parma ham and blood orange. There are ripe flavors of black cherry, Chinese black tea, mint, coffee grounds and hints of orange rind and anise. This dense Syrah needs a two hour decant for full expression and drinks even better on the second day. Lithe and light on its feet, this will cellar well for at least another ten years. Drink 2019-2029- 93

The 2014 Lagniappe is an outstanding bottling from Gramercy Cellars, this Syrah was sourced from the Forgotten Hills, Red Willow and Minick Vineyards. The wine underwent 66% whole cluster fermentation and was aged for 18 months in used puncheons prior to bottling. This shows wonderful aromatics of dried herbs, red cherry, red raspberry, rose petals, Parma ham and blood orange. There are ripe flavors of black cherry, Chinese black tea, mint, coffee grounds and hints of orange rind and anise. This dense wine needs a two hour decant for full expression and drinks even better on the second day. Lithe and light on its feet, this will cellar well for at least another ten years. Drink 2019-2029- 93

Amazing how well this bottle showed over the bottle this last November. Smoke, balsamic, yet the same wonderful fruit. I’m upgrading this rating.

This bottle took about an hour to open up after popping the cork. Sweet blackberry and raspberry flavors with dried herbs and smoke. Some cola comes through, too. Years ahead for this wine!

At HATTAWAY’S, a new restaurant in town. Very good, definitely recommend.

Dense and tannic. So much time, patience and evolution is needed here. I’m not sure if it will ever completely shed it’s rough edges but I do know you shouldn’t touch it for several years.