Quercus Hyperion Syrah 06
Hyperion Syrah 06 opens with rich scents of triple berry pie highlighted by subtle grilled herbs. The flavors explode with blackberries, black raspberries, and blueberries. Peppered bacon, earth, and cocoa joins the rich fruit near the finish, which coasts, showing nice structure. Only 70 cases were produced, from Smith-Cerne vineyard in the Columbia Gorge. Hyperion 06 was aged for 20 months using no new wood.
Hyperion is made by Michael Beckley, best known for his exquisite-value Pinot noirs, Harmonia and Cadmus. Beckley shows his versatility the Hyperion Syrah, and applies the same method as he does with his Pinots: let the grapes speak.
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When he founded Quercus Wines (aptly named for the oak genus used to make wine barrels), Berkley determined he would run it as closely as he could to how a small Burgundian producer operates, "without," he added, "the family involvement." Quercus is a one-man band.
"I try to emulate the hands-off technique from Burgundy, gently herding the wine to its final destination," said Beckley. "I don't have any delusions that Oregon is Burgundy-it is still Oregon, with its own unique grape-growing atmosphere.
"But the [winemaking] techniques are interchangeable," he added. "They generally mimic what has been done in Burgundy for hundreds of years." An analogy Beckley might draw is to the way a jazz standard is played differently each time it's approached by a new musician. The song is the same, and there are traditional methods with which to play it; the interpretation is unique.
Beckley believes that, in winemaking, some traditional methods are marks of integrity, and that, "many dedicated, small producers of all kinds of reds will use these techniques now."
