Thanks DS
“Somewhat” recent:
March 14, 2016 - Maroon in color. 14.2% ABV. Sensational nose of fresh flowers, saline, ash and cherries. Fresh, yet savory, with medium acidity and resolved tannins. Cherries, cabbage, olive brine and grilled meats on the palate. Rich and concentrated with a strong finish. Stunning Syrah and textbook Cayuse. Drink over the next 1-2 years.
Tom
Will do, Joe. My impression is that Cayuse has really dialed-back the octane in the past decade; their Syrahs tend to come in in the low 14s, when not in the 13s, for abv. these days.
Agreed, No Girls even more so (which I think of as AFWE Cayuse).
On that note, at a wine dinner last year, I opened up the 2011 No Girls Grenache next to a 2002 Rayas, the latter of which is an outstanding wine for the vintage. The No Girls not only held it’s own but showed far more similarities than dissimilarities, especially on the nose.
As for the 2007 Armada, much appreciate the updates as I have one bottle left and will plan on opening sometime in the near future. It remains perhaps the best Syrah from Cayuse I’ve ever had, such a killer wine.
I have always thought that the Armada’s are one of the best wines they produce – and while I get them direct from the winery, they are available on the secondary market for not much more than the release price (compared to BF, which is also great, but for the money I think Armada is a better value, on the secondary market that is)
2007 Cayuse Syrah Cailloux Vineyard - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley (3/28/2020)
– decanted immediately before tasting –
– tasted non-blind over approx. 2 hours –
NOSE: green peppercorns; wet stones; green olives; non-descript purple fruits; a bit high-toned.
BODY: medium to medium-full bodied; youthful appearance; fine particulate matter present; medium bodied.
TASTE: savory and stemmy; very light tannins; adequate acidity; seems to be in its prime window, with perhaps another five years of prime drinking in front of it; no brett; purple-fruited; excellent. Gut impression score: 91 – 93.
Love the olive quality from good Washington State (should I say Oregon, Rocks District).
Thanks for posting back in this thread, Brian. I agree that it’s a lot more useful to see notes over the years all together. One thing that I think is clear: these wines don’t need significant acidity to age well. While I also think it’s clear that they do not age consistently (I’ve mentioned the huge amount of bottle variation I’ve found over the past few years in other threads), the good bottles seem to be able to go for quite a while with lower acidity than most other wines have.
Can’t argue with you on that one, Doug. A couple years ago, I pretty much thought these would need to be consumed by 2020. Then 2020 rolls around, and I swear this wine still has another 5 years of prime time left in it. Pretty impressive, really.
Thanks for posting back in this thread, Brian. I agree that it’s a lot more useful to see notes over the years all together. One thing that I think is clear: these wines don’t need significant acidity to age well. While I also think it’s clear that they do not age consistently (I’ve mentioned the huge amount of bottle variation I’ve found over the past few years in other threads), the good bottles seem to be able to go for quite a while with lower acidity than most other wines have.
Doug are you finding bottle variation for your palate or cellar tracker in general?
Can’t argue with you on that one, Doug. A couple years ago, I pretty much thought these would need to be consumed by 2020. Then 2020 rolls around, and I swear this wine still has another 5 years of prime time left in it. Pretty impressive, really.
Cayuse wines should age as well as Northern Rhone’s best in my opinion.