2018 En Cerise Vineyard Syrah
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Tasting notes
Displaying a deep ruby core and magenta rim, the 2018 Syrah en Cerise bursts with elements of smoked meats, black pepper, umami, dried tobacco and smoked pipe before elements of black raspberry, dusty cherry and spiced plum compote sway out of the glass. Medium to full-bodied, the palate shows impeccable balance with a fine mineral tension followed by elements of smoked herbs, dusty lavender and hints of summer sausage across the mid-palate with youthful tannins. The wine concludes with a wonderfully expressive finish with elements of roasted herbs, cold firepit and cured meats. The wine should continue to drink well for the next decade. The wine rested for 19 months in approximately 15% new French oak. Just under 4,800 bottles were made.
Critic scores
Average Score
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
Lots of red and blue fruits, sappy herbs, beef blood, iron, sweet earth, and violet notes all emerge from the 2018 Syrah En Cerise Vineyard, and it's another incredibly pure, seamless wine from Baron that does everything right. Medium to full-bodied and flawlessly balanced, with silky tannins on the palate, it shows the purity and freshness of the vintage as well as a Jamet-like complexity and meatiness. It's going to benefit from 2-4 years of bottle age and keep for 20 years in cold cellars. This is a hard mailing list to crack, yet winemaker Christophe Baron continues to deliver the goods, releasing singular, exotic, incredible wines from his bevy of single vineyards in the Rocks region of the Walla Walla Valley. The 2018s show the rich yet focused, straight, elegant style of the vintage beautifully and are going to be incredibly age-worthy. While the Syrahs get all the love, don’t miss his Grenache, Tempranillo, and Bordeaux blends. His 2018 Grenache God Only Knows might be the finest Grenache I’ve ever tasted outside of France and few California releases.
Bright, full red-ruby. Pure but reticent nose combines aromas of black cherry, pepper, black olive and smoked meat; a bit darker than the Cailloux but also shows a violet hint and a slightly higher pitch. Dense, suave and rich on entry; more sweet than savory next to the Cailloux but with its back half lifted by a sexy floral quality. I get a bit more energy and lift here, and a more palate-staining finish. This youthful, classically dry wine is not quite as meaty or smoky as the Cailloux and appears to have a bit more stuffing. Really saturates the mouth without any excess weight. Wonderfully suave and dark, finishing with an inexorable peacock's tail of flavor. This struck me as rather Hermitage-like but with unusually suave tannins. I find it a bit juicier and more delineated than the Cailloux this year, more tightly coiled as well. These are wines to ponder, not to gulp. (Tasted June 2021; Published September 2021)