THIS SYRAH HAS BELLS!

I was recently with a group that had a chance to visit with Kent Waliser, General Manager for Sagemoor Vineyards, one of the largest grape producing vineyards in the state of Washington. He has a wealth of knowledge about the wine business and grape growing. Kent is on the Washington Wine Commission and oversees around 900 acres of vineyards including Sagemoor, Bacchus, Dionysus and Weinbau in the Wahluke Slope AVA.

While Kent brought up many interesting points for discussion, one of the things he said stuck with me. He was sad to see syrah experiencing a decline in production in Washington State. He said this because syrah expresses itself so beautifully in the soils of Washington. Perhaps not all vineyard sites grow great syrah, but there are very few that don’t. Unfortunately as he pointed out, wine makers are now only looking at specific vineyards for this varital including places like Red Mountain and Boushey Vineyards in the Yakima Valley.

I myself am sad to see a decline in interest for this versatile varietal. However, there is a silver lining behind every cloud and I have seen a bump in syrah sales in my department recently and that is encouraging. Not too long ago a friend of mine dropped off two bottles of syrah from a small (very small) winery in Seattle. She said they were very good and wanted me to give them a try. Eight Bells Winery is located in the Roosevelt/Revenna neighborhood of North Seattle. This is literally a garage winery as Sharon pointed out, saying there was not a lot of room to move around.

The two syrah that I tried were the ’09 syrah from Yakima Valley which has 15% grenache from Red Mountain, and the Red Willow Vineyard (Yakima Valley) syrah. I have to say that I was very impressed not only with the quality, but the diversity between the two wines. Here are my impressions…

2009 Eight Bells Syrah Yakima Valley … 24.99
85% syrah from the Les Vignes de Marcoux Vineyard in Yakima Valley and grenache from Red Mountain, this syrah has everything I look for in this varietal. Smokey dark fruit on the nose with hits of bacon fat. On the palate it is elegant and bold at the same time. Notes of black currants and boysenberries permeate the palate on silky smooth tannins. Smoke and bacon fat back up the fruit as it flows seamlessly into a medium finish. This is a great price for such a fabulous effort. 90 points

2009 Eight Bells Syrah Red Willow Vineyard, Yakima Valley … 33.99
Talk about a difference in flavor profile. This syrah leaned toward the brighter fruit side. Fresh on the nose with notes of bacon fat and blueberry. On the palate the acidity drives the notes of blueberry and anise with hits of red flowers. Notes of bacon fat come through on a long finish. This syrah is intense in a different way then its’ sibling and that is not a bad thing. Look for this one to age nicely over the next 4-8 years. This one screams for marinated beef or barbecue sauce. 92 points

Look these guys up at http://www.8bellswinery.com/ and try to get some of their wines. They are reasonably priced and represent an excellent value in Washington syrah. I know I am going to take a trip to see them and try some of their other wines. Cheers! Stan The Wine Man