Sequel Syrah 03: Sequel Syrah from Longshadows Vintners, debut vintage is a deep, inky color with dark black fruit aromas and flavors throughout. A seductive wine with elegance and an aspect of mystery, Sequel is notable for its generous, silky tannins and rich, supple mouth feel. Across the palate, the wine offers a mouth full of blackberries and black cherry - flavors that echo on a long, stylish finish.
Made by John Duval, the very famous winemaker who for fifteen years made Australia's most celebrated wine, Penfold's Grange.
Yakima Valley's Boushey Vineyard (29%) gives the wine its elegance, density and complexity; the Wallula Vineyard (26%) in the Horse Heaven Hills combines with Red Mountain vineyards (24%) to add black fruit and richness; and a small amount of Walla Walla fruit adds roundness and suppleness.
Not currently available to order.
May be out of stock or sold out. Inquire at 541-752-7418 or store@avalonwine.com
Detailed Info, Previous Vintage Notes, Reviews:
From the Seattle Times, March 7, 2006:
"Syrah, I pointed out, is a grape that seems to do very well in many places. Furthermore, it already has been "claimed" as a signature grape in both the Rhone Valley, for its smoky, meaty, pungently bloody character, and in the Barossa, for its immensely pleasurable, saturated, jammy, fruit-driven power. So where does Washington syrah fit in?
"It seems to fit in neatly," Duval insists. "True, it doesn't have the bigness of Barossa Valley shiraz, but it has the finesse and savory spice character I see in France. So I see it fitting in between the French style and the other end of the spectrum, the big bold Australian style. And we (Long Shadows) have access to some vineyards that can give a bit of both."
The 2003 growing season was one of the Columbia Valley's warmest vintages on record with overall heat accumulation rivaling the high numbers posted in 1998. Temperatures were warm from June to August, allowing grapes to reach an exceptional level of physiological maturity while maintaining balanced sugars and acids. Wines from this vintage are big, rich and supple with extraordinary ripe fruit character - in short, a blockbuster year.
