Syncline Winery : Our Wines
Subduction Red Columbia Valley
Production: About 1000 cases
Tasting Notes
Long inspired by the wines of the Southern Rhone Valley, this is our answer to a Washington version of a Cotes-du-Rhone Villages wine. Ripe and hedonistic, this wine displays vivid ruby color with varying degrees of purple black. Aromatics lean towards cherries, pomegranate and blackberry with layers of exotic spices. Nuances of licorice, pepper, and provincial herbs mingle with the fruit. Flavors closely mimic aromatics with a broad expansive texture. This is a wine for roasted vegetables, game, sausages or country cheeses.
Harvest Notes
Appellation: Columbia Valley
Harvest Dates: Early September-late October
Varietals: Syrah, Mourvedre, Grenache, and others
Vineyard: Varies
Year Planted: Varies
Vineyards
This wine is more an exploration of the Columbia Valley than a representation of any one varietal or vineyard. The grapes all come from throughout the Columbia Valley from vineyards with which we have long term contracts. Syrah is sourced from our three vineyard designated sites, while the Grenache is sourced from the Wahluke Slope, Horse Heaven and Yakima Valley. Mourvedre is planted to a remarkable hillside in the Horse Heaven Hills. What is important for us lies in what each site contributes to the overall blend.
Fermentation and Aging
The fruit is hand harvested into 800 pound harvest boxes and transported to the winery in the early morning. The fruit is destemmed into fermenters with varying quantities of each varietal (Syrah with Viognier, Grenache with Syrah and Mourvedre, Mourvedre with Syrah). This cofermentation yields richer more integrated flavors than can be achieved through blending. The following day 10-50% of the juice is drained to tank for rosé production. Inoculated fermentation in open top fermenters with manual pigeage. Pressed at dryness and barreled in French oak barrels (5-10% new). Bottled in 11 months.