K Vintners The Hidden Syrah 2009
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Wine Enthusiast
From Northridge Vineyard grapes, this mix of four clones spent more than two years in barrel. Tremendous depth and complexity are apparent on the nose, and there is no let-down on the palate. It’s a seriously powerful wine, with muscle and magic. It opens generously into beautifully integrated layers of ripe fruit, confection, candied rind, cacao and a finishing touch of minerality. Editors' Choice.
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Wine Spectator
Offers freshness, purity and depth in a sleek package, with rose petal accents to the ripe blackberry, dark plum and brioche aromas and flavors. Lingers with deftness on the finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Having spent 27 months in barrel, K Vintners’ 2009 Syrah The Hidden Northridge Vineyard from the Wahluke Slope might be taken as a test case and directional marker for the longer elevage that is going to become K Vintners’ norm. But I am not ready to extrapolate too boldly from a single slight disappointment, especially on the basis of one early assessment. Scents of bacon fat – I have good reason to believe – can be traced to the brand and toasting of barrels used (40% of which were new) as much as to inherent Syrah character. Soy, red licorice, mocha, and suggestions of fresh sour and dried cherries point toward the complexity, but also engender a somewhat sweet-tart bifurcation that emerges on the palate. There is a slight bit of gum-numbing from the tannin (which didn’t dissipate open overnight). Credit this with intense flavor interest and sheer persistence even despite some drying, but, tentatively, it strikes me that the time in barrel here was too long for optimum expressiveness not to mention fruit retention. If the present showing turns out from a short term perspective to have been a weak phase, then one will be able to intelligently speculate on its potential longevity at that time.
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Located at the base of the Blue Mountains in Walla Walla Washington, K Vintners opened its doors to the public on December 3rd, 2001. The property at 820 Mill Creek Road where the winery sits was homesteaded in 1853 with the adjacent farmhouse built in 1872. The winery grounds with Titus Creek flowing through the lawn and the old pioneer planted trees, is a little slice of heartland Americana. The Winemaker: He loves to drink wine! Charles Smith, proprietor and winemaker, comes to Walla Walla after 11 years in Scandanavia. Originally from northern California, he has been involved with wine personally and professionally his whole life. And did we forget to mention... he loves to drink wine! The Vineyards: K Vintners is producing wines from 2 distinctive viticultural zones: Wahluke Slope and Walla Walla Valley. Each of these areas are unique and awesome for Syrah and the Field Blends produced. In April '02 two seperate blocks of vineyards were planted to Syrah adjacent to the winery in the rocky dry creek beds that run through K Vintners property.
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”
A large and geographically diverse AVA capable of producing a wide variety of wine styles, the Columbia Valley AVA is home to 99% of Washington state’s total vineyard area. A small section of the AVA even extends into northern Oregon!
Because of its size, it is necessarily divided into several distinctive sub-AVAs, including Walla Walla Valley and Yakima Valley—which are both further split into smaller, noteworthy appellations. A region this size will of course have varied microclimates, but on the whole it experiences extreme winters and long, hot, dry summers. Frost is a common risk during winter and spring. The towering Cascade mountain range creates a rain shadow, keeping the valley relatively rain-free throughout the entire year, necessitating irrigation from the Columbia River. The lack of humidity combined with sandy soils allows for vines to be grown on their own rootstock, as phylloxera is not a serious concern.
Red wines make up the majority of production in the Columbia Valley. Cabernet Sauvignon is the dominant variety here, where it produces wines with a pleasant balance of dark fruit and herbs. Wines made from Merlot are typically supple, with sweet red fruit and sometimes a hint of chocolate or mint. Syrah tends to be savory and Old-World-leaning, with a wide range of possible fruit flavors and plenty of spice. The most planted white varieties are Chardonnay and Riesling. These range in style from citrus and green apple dominant in cooler sites, to riper, fleshier wines with stone fruit flavors coming from the warmer vineyards.