Cascadia Syrah is produced by a family owned and operated winery and vineyard, situated in the heart of the Yakima Valley, Washington State’s oldest established AVA. The vineyard enjoys an enviable position on Cascadia mountain, where the tough conditions create grapes which are packed with amazing flavours.

Washington State may be fairly new on the wine radar, but it’s certainly here to stay if all their wines are as good as this. It’s plush, ripe fruit flavours are wrapped up in a satin shawl. If you normally like Malbec, give this a try. If you’re cooking with smoke, be it a BBQ or a fire pit, this will deliver a delicious edge.

Vineyards

Cascadia Syrah is sourced exclusively from the Airport Ranch Vineyard located in the Yakima Valley AVA. Creating a wine of this calibre starts in the vineyard where the vineyard workers meticulously manage the size of the crop, then late in the season make sure the vines have proper exposure to ensureoptimal ripeness is achieved.

Vinification

Harvested in the middle of October, the grapes were destemmed but not crushed and sorted using an optical sorter before being sent to small concrete fermenters. To obtain more complex aromas and mouthfeel, the wine underwent a native ferment, using the grapes natural yeast to complete alcoholic fermentation. Fermented at temperatures of 88-90 degrees with delastage used early on, then tapered off to more gentle extraction methods as to not over extract the wine and maintain a soft and lush mouthfeel. Fermented on the skins until dry for 15 days then drained and gently pressed.

After pressing the wine was then sent to French Oak barrels with 20% New French oak, 40% 13-year-old French Oak and 40% Neutral Oak and inoculated for Malo-Lactic fermentation. After MLF was completed, the wines lees were stirred twice a month for three months. Incorporating lees into the wines naturally softens the wine, creating more roundness and depth on the palate. During aging, the care of the wines is meticulous work. We top every wine twice a week and this wine had 3 rackings during its aging. Aged for approximately 11 months in French oak before being racked to a concrete tank for 1 month of concrete aging then prepped for bottling.

Tasting Notes

A rich and full-bodied wine; evokes dark aromas of sweet plums, black current melded with hints of orange oil, soy sauce and smoked barbeque. The palate displays silk like texture with flavors of bakers chocolate, blackberry, smoked dates, and a touch of black olive tapenade. The wine has a flesh-like finish that lingers with beautiful notes of toasted oak and an intriguing note of wet stones.

Perfect served with a grilled steak, hearty stew or simple pasta dishes.