2015 Gramercy Cellars Syrah Forgotten Hills
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Tasting notes
Complex and compelling, the 2015 Syrah Forgotten Hills Vineyard reveals beautiful aromas of orange rind, wild berries, tapenade and cracked pepper. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, layered and succulent, with lovely sappy acids, concentrated fruit and some youthfully chewy tannins that will need a few years in bottle to melt away. Cellar it for a few years and follow it for a decade.
Critic scores
Average Score
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
From a site in Walla Walla and aged in 10% new puncheons, the ruby/plum-colored 2015 Syrah Forgotten Hills offers beautiful notes of plums, black cherries, leather, cured meats, and rose petals. With classic Syrah gamey meatiness, medium to full-bodied richness, and bright acidity, it's going to benefit from 2-3 years of bottle age and keep through 2027. The team of Greg Harrington and Brandon Moss continue to keep Gramercy Cellars near the top of the hierarchy in Washington State. While they started out with a focus on Syrah, today they produce a brilliant lineup of both Rhône and Bordeaux blends. The 2016s, which were tasted from barrel, were surprisingly fresh and lively, and I suspect harvested on the earlier side. It will be interesting to see how these come together in bottle. The 2015s are a step up and are some of the finest I’ve tasted from this team.
(13.1% alcohol; vinified with 75% whole clusters and then aged in used puncheons, like all of Greg Harrington's Syrahs): Bright, dark ruby-red. Aromas of blueberry, cassis, black cherry and menthol. Displays more early mid-palate texture than the basic Syrah but still classically dry and quite closed, with its black fruit flavors lifted by a hint of flowers. This very juicy wine, which has a rather high pH of 3.9 but sound acidity, finishes with firm, building tannins.