Red Wine Charles Smith K Vintners The Deal Syrah 2018. Decant 1 hour before serving. Formerly a rock band manager and seasoned veteran of the European concert circuit, Charles Smith fell in love with wine while touring and returned to the United States with a dream of making his own bottles. Today he is considered one of the country’s finest self-taught winemakers thanks to his highly-acclaimed Washington State wines which have earned him the title Winemaker of the Year from Food & Wine magazine, Wine Enthusiast, and Seattle Magazine. Smith’s speciality is single varietal Syrah like this excellent example crafted from Sundance Vineyard, one of the oldest vineyards on the Wahluke Slope in Walla Walla Valley AVA. The vines here were planted in 1997 on gravelly volcanic soils and enjoy a long ripening season which ensures perfectly-balanced grapes. The Deal is a wine with a very long life ahead of it thanks to the punchy tannins, generous full body and luscious dark berry and plum flavours which linger endlessly on the tongue. The black fruit notes are accompanied by hints of leather, earth, olives, tobacco leaf and black pepper. The complexity makes it an ideal wine to lay down in the cellar for a few more years or to serve now alongside a rich beef stew, barbecued meats or a prime steak.
2018
Red Wine Charles Smith K Vintners The Deal Syrah 2018
Red Wine Charles Smith K Vintners The Hidden Syrah 2018. Decant 1 hour before serving. Syrah is Charles Smith’s signature grape since during his very first vintage in 1999 the self-taught winemaker crafted 330 cases from this special variety. Smith first fell in love with wine while touring Europe as a rock band manager. When he returned to settle in the US, it was only natural that he would head to the pristine lands of Washington State to start his own winery. Since then he has been named Winemaker of the Year by both Food & Wine and by Wine Enthusiast magazines. This blockbuster Syrah is all about power and depth, with fruit exclusively sourced from the Northyard Vineyard which sits on ancient loamy sand soils at a high elevation. The cooler evenings help to ensure a long ripening season, producing grapes with plenty of aromatics and finesse. All of the fruit is harvested by hand to ensure quality and then fermented using wild yeasts. The young wine is then aged in 50% new French oak barrels for 20 months before bottling. On the nose hints of black cherry and plum mingle with spice, toasted wood, and black pepper. The intensity, full body and firm tannins make this a great red to serve with barbecued meats or other hearty red meat dishes.
2018
Red Wine Chateau Cos d’Estournel Goulee 2018. In the 2000s the legendary Chateau Cos d’Estournel acquired some prime vineyards in the northern Medoc set on rolling hills facing the Gironde river. Goulee once used to be an island in the Gironde, and the soils are thus composed of deep layers of well-draining gravel. Goulee’s vineyards are treated exactly the same as the vines at the Cos estate, with careful attention to detail and labour-intensive methods like crop-thinning. The grapes are harvested by hand and vinified by the Cos d’Estournel team to the estate’s exacting standards. La Goulee is predominantly composed of around 70-80% Merlot along with 10-20% Cabernet Sauvignon and a drop of Cabernet Franc. The young wine is matured in French oak barrels for 12 months before release. The result is a powerful and robust modern-style Bordeaux which can either be enjoyed now alongside hearty red meat and vegetarian dishes or can be cellared for another decade or more. On the nose there are tantalising notes of cassis, mulberry and sour black cherry while the first sip reveals firm tannins, a well-built structure, and hints of cigar box spice, graphite, leather and crushed wild berries.
2018