2018 DIONYSTIC 'For Bruce' Syrah + Viognier
Syrah is one of the most promising red grapes in the Willamette Valley. I first became aware of Syrah in the Willamette Valley while working my very first harvest in 2006 for Bruce & Brad Biehl (The Bad Biehl Brothers). The Syrah and other experimental grapes had just been planted in the vineyard. Sometimes when everyone is going in the same direction, it is time to change course.
ELEGANT & FLORAL 🌸
Syrah is one of my favorite grapes. I love its versatility and can be just as haunting as Pinot Noir. It is one of the few red grapes that really straddles the line of feminine and masculine. It is a grape that grows well at low elevations, high elevations, clay soil, limestone soil, loess soil, cool climate, or hot climates. It can be highly aromatic and elegant or dense and rich.
The 2018 ‘For Bruce’ Syrah is another side to the Willamette Valley Syrah conversation. Grown in cornelius soils, this Syrah is unlike any in the valley. Co-Fermented with approximately 5% whole berry Viognier., this vintage shows the elegance of the grape. This wine evokes the Northern Rhone, soft supple, fruity, floral, mineral, and a slight spiciness that comes from our stem-back process. This is a Syrah for Pinot Noir lovers, Grenache lovers, and for anyone who wants to taste a glimpse into another Willamette Valley red grape success story. The future is now.
WINE NOTES
APPELLATION: Willamette Valley AVA
VINTAGE: 2018
GRAPE VARIETIES: Syrah & Viognier (Co-Ferm)
ESTATE GROWN: No, purchased grapes
VINEYARD SOURCE: REDACTED
VINEYARD AGE: 14 Years
DRY FARMED: Yes
OWN ROOTED: Grafted & Own Rooted
SOIL TYPE: Cornelius (Loess)
ELEVATION: 400 feet (122 meters)
HARVEST DATE: October 18th, 2018
HARVEST METHOD: Hand Harvested
BRIX AT HARVEST: 23.1 (Syrah) 23.5 (Viognier)
SKIN CONTACT: 14 Days
CHAPTALIZATION: No
FERMENTATION: Ambient Yeast
MATURATION VESSEL: 228L Ermitage French Oak
ALCOHOL (by volume): 14.15%
SULFUR DIOXIDE (SO₂): 22mg/L
ACIDITY SCALE (pH): 3.66
TOTAL ACIDITY: 7.2g/L
FINING AGENT: Unfined (Vegan)
BOTTLE SIZE: 750ml
CLOSURE TYPE: FineCork X
FILTRATION: Unfiltered
HAND BOTTLED: Yes
PRODUCTION: 80 Cases
BOTTLING DATE: August 7th, 2019
RELEASE DATE: October 1st, 2019
This wine was bottled in 🇺🇸 made glass, with a cork from 🇮🇹 and a label that was designed and printed in the 🇺🇸 . Please ♻︎ this bottle when you are finished enjoying it.
“The 2018 Syrah “For Bruce” includes five percent Viognier in the blend, with the two grapes co-fermented. The wine is named for a long-time vineyard manager in Oregon, Bruce Biehl, who was pushing vineyard owners to see beyond pinot noir when planting new vineyards back in the 1990s. These grapes hail from one of those vineyards on the northern fringe of the Willamette Valley, where the owner took Bruce’s advice. The wine is co-fermented with
indigenous yeasts and aged in older casks for eight months, prior to bottling unfined and unfiltered. It comes in at 14.1 percent octane in 2018 and offers up a fine, youthful nose of cassis, black olive, pepper, grilled meats, dark soil tones and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and tightly-knit, with excellent focus and grip, tangy acids, a fine core of fruit and very good soil signature on the long, ripely tannic and very promising finish. This is an excellent bottle of young syrah- just add a modicum of patience to the recipe and let it blossom properly with bottle age! 2028-2060. 92+.”
