TN: 2011 Proper Wines Syrah Stone's Throw

WINE TALK
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  • 2011 Proper Wines Syrah Stone’s Throw - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley (11/27/2018)
    Opaque purple with a violet rim, nose of blackberries. Tart cane pith, light fruit, medium body, a bit of bubble gum. A bit disjointed solo, but works well with some salami picante on baguette. Starting to come together with some open time. Developing a meaty texture with more time. Reserved with a nice smooth body and well integrated tannins. Yummy without being jammy. This may have plateaued, but should hold for a long time. A night later, perfectly balanced, the fruit is developing a restrained round profile, some tartness and cane pith tannins. While many do not like the cool vintages, they are my favorite and the ones I buy. Must be from drinking all that OR PN. This year they lost their estate fruit and had to purchase from others. It was a devastating winter for many. Now part of the Rotie family, both being favorite buys. Finishing four nights after opening and has developed into a restrained old world style, showing some smoky notes along with some Italian red pepper, cherries, leather and earth, lovely savory aged wine with tertiary notes replacing and enhancing the fruit. (92 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

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Thanks for the good and informative tasting note. I am a big fan of Rotie – have not tried Proper in a while, so will do so!

So a perhaps ignorant question – what is “cane pith?” And what does it taste like?

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Ron, there is a fellow, I think from Michigan that did an OPB Oregon Experience program on gathering edible foods from nature. A friend on Camano Is. gathers mushrooms, shellfish and greens and is a follower. She takes a Himalayan black berry cane and peels it and eats the core, uses a lot of greens in salads. I spent my early years on a farm outside of Kelso, so as a kid we ate a lot of things that grew wild and I remember the tastes and use them in my notes. YMMV, that’s my story and I am sticking with it. [cheers.gif]

I only bought two from Full Pull, should have bought more. I’m not sure where Stones Throw is located, but their estate vineyard is in the Rocks which seems to be my preferred AVA these days. It looks like more vineyards are being planted to the south on the Oregon side.

I need to give Scott Hollowell credit for getting me interested in wines from the WW Valley, the brothers Rasa and their involvement with the CT wines and Delmas/SJR, also recommended buy a neighbor and vineyard owner friend of the Robertsons.