Washington Wine Report

• By Sean Sullivan
  3/30/2010 (link) ** points

  (Wines of Substance Syrah Washington State) An quiet but intriguing nose with blueberry, blackberry bush, and touches of carob. A fruit-filled, clean palate with a citric uptick on the finish. 13.7% alcohol.

Garagiste

• By Jon Rimmerman
  9/22/2009 (link)

  (SUBSTANCE Syrah) 2008 Syrah Dear Friends, Pardon the Mickey Spillane aspect of this offer but sometimes life indeed imitates art. I've been hearing about this wine for at least a month but I haven't been in a hurry to offer it - the 2007 version was one of the most popular wines of last winter and people are still requesting it. I was going to re-offer the 2007 next week (the last of our allocation) but an informant known as "The Sparrow" told me I better hurry on the 2008 - as in now. Substance (the winery) broke through last year and they haven't looked back. Their graphics, methodology, web site and youth-movement pro-consumer pricing have made them a large presence in the pseudo-underground here in the US. Very popular with the under-30 literary college set (no surprise), the name of the game here is value and a new take on the term "New World". Instead of over-oaked, slathered "exciting fruit" and high alcohol, they prefer to under-oak (or none at all), tone down the fruit and allow the northern climate of Washington State to provide actual natural acidity (instead of adjusting it). The result is a wine that is slightly shocking for domestic fans as it can underwhelm when the palate expects to be hammered with "substance" of a more extractive form. With that said, they don't require my pontification at this point, the demand from around the US now exceeds supply... ...but there is a story regarding the 2008 (there's always seems to be a story when I'm involved, isn't there?). Where the 2007 Substance Syrah was polarizing for many, the 2008 is not even the Substance Syrah at all. Huh? It's essentially the $25-30 2008 Waters Syrah. Now even I'm confused. Demand has come to such a point for Substance that they don't have any wine. What I mean is, order requests have them in a pickle. Enter Waters (their high-end winery along with 21 Grams) to save the day. From The Sparrow, who is about as close to the winery as it gets: "The biggest difference between the 2007 and 2008 Substance Syrah is the fruit source. The 2007 had a small amount of Minnick Vineyard, some Le Colline, some Seven Hills, a mish-mash of Yakima Syrah vineyards and some 3rd leaf Rocks - all very good sources but, for their style, Minnick is the Grand Cru of the bunch and there wasn't a lot used. The 2008 is over 80% Minnick, which is not only a much older vineyard, but it produces much more intense mineral driven deep-root fruit. Also, the balance of the fruit in 2008 is from Forgotten Hills, it's not a mish-mash. Forgotten Hills is where Waters gets their top-end single vineyard Syrah from - in other words serious, premium stuff all the way - not $13 stuff. So, what gives? This wine (the 2008 Minnick/Forgotten Hills cuvee) was originally intended to be the 2008 Waters Columbia Valley Syrah, but they made a focus change recently and decided to eliminate that wine from their line-up - not because of the wine itself just because as they had too many wines to market. However, the 2008 Minnick/Forgotten Hills Syrah was so good, they were going to make it a new one-off "winery" but then bell went off: Substance has too many orders to fill and no wine -let's just bottle it as Substance and blow people away. Essentially, this wine was vinified and finished with the intent of being a $25-30 signature wine for them, before they labeled it as Substance anyway. That's a pretty strong reason to try it. It's the same Old World/New World style but it's easily twice the wine of the 2007 Substance Syrah (which I really like for its unusual style). I'd say the 2008 is the best bottle of Syrah at this price in Washington State - I don't think any of the top winemakers will argue with me. Only problem is that they won't be able to make again it next year - certainly not for under $20, but hey, that's next year. Most consumers will never know this - they'll just stumble upon a bottle of the 2008 Syrah and go "wow" but that's worth a lot to these guys - it's not always about money, you know? You're not going to print all of this, are you? I'm not sure it's public info?" Yes, I am going to print it. I can't really add anything else to the above except I've tried the wine and it is an insane deal for the price - those of you weaned on the leanness of the 2007 will still find much to admire in the uncanny varietal nature of the wine but those of you wishing for deeper fruit will also have a big smile on your face. The 2008 has a genuine Cornas meets Washington State-like gaminess with a deep, coating, blackberry Syrah core and a very long, even stunning finish for a wine at this price-level (more like a $25-30 finish). I'm not going to get too carried away as our allocation of 2008 is not as large as 2007 (simply due to the popularity of the winery) but they are giving us the lion's share of what is available. I rarely say "hurry on this one" but I'll say it today - better hurry if you are interested in the newest and most noteworthy bargains. 2008 Substance Syrah (Columbia Valley) Sy Thank you, Jon Rimmerman Garagiste Seattle, WA WA9990