Sheridan Vineyard Singularity Syrah 2013
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Parker
Robert
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The La Turque of Washington state, Scott Greer's 100% Syrah 2013 Singularity is a sensational wine that always comes from the same parcel of Sheridan Vineyard and is raised all in new French oak barrels. It offers a meaty, rich, chocolaty, dark fruit and espresso-scented personality to go with a full-bodied, rich concentrated feel on the palate that always stays graceful and balanced. It's a big, rich wine, but it's never cumbersome, heavy or over the top; for the multiple days I followed this bottle, it held up beautifully. It's one of the Syrahs of the vintage, and while it's certainly a joy to drink today, it deserves 5-6 years of cellaring and will have two decades (or more) of longevity. Bravo to Scott for this stunning effort!
Other Vintages
2014-
Parker
Robert
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Parker
Robert
Today, with the property fully planted, Scott continues to focus on sustainable farming practices and keeping yields low as the vineyard matures. All of this is driven by his passion to create wines of richness while maintaining a sense of beauty and balance.
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.