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Red
2014 Gramercy Cellars Syrah John Lewis Reserve
Syrah
- USA
- Washington
- Columbia Valley
- Walla Walla Valley
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Community Tasting Notes 20
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hckschr40 Likes this wine: 94 points
April 4, 2024 - Subdued nose of dark fruits and a bready note is either closed down or spoiled by poor stemware.
Palate is altogether different. Earthy, chalky dark cherries and blackberries. Pepper and meaty notes are secondary but integrated. Supremely elegant and evocative of the northern Rhône. Full-bodied and luscious, with gripping tannins and “fine” acidity through a lengthy finish. -
Pedroel Likes this wine: 91 points
January 21, 2024 - It’s taken a long time to come around. Even now, it needs about 3-4 hours to knit together. One left. Should wait another couple of years for it to really show.
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WK88 Likes this wine: 91 points
May 11, 2022 - Gramercy Cellars Syrah John Lewis Reserve 2014.
Decant in small decanter and tasted over 2 nights. This wine is still at her very youth, need long gentle decanting. Tasted the 1st evening after 90 mins decanting with a small decanter, the wine was extremely tight and unopen! Swirling the wine in a large wine glass, sipping to explore, seems needs much longer time. However, on the 2nd evening, the wine is more ready. While still decanting and in parallel allowing the wine to warm up to serving temperature, 18-20 deg C, the nose started to brightens up with intense riped fruits, though the colour is dark, ruby purple, the nose tends to be more biased to red fruits, strawberry, raspberry, red cherry and blueberry, rich spice, with a little sweet tobacco. At this juncture, entry is silky and gorgeous, rich characters but not overwhelmed, very elegant and rounded mid palate, medium to full body. Tannins is rather firm with fresh acidity, medium to long finished. Transition from start to finish is seamless, patience is the key element to enjoy this wine. Suggest to keep aside and re-explore after 3-4 years. Enjoy 5-7 years there after. 91-93 pts -
sid_loves_wine Likes this wine: 94 points
March 21, 2022 - Gorgeous wine for my 800th CT review. I was a little worried about buying this even for $50 on winebid, given that the CT notes are really varied, and many describe some flaws, or at least that it's unbalanced or inexpressive. I made the purchase anyway and I'm glad I did- even if there's some bottle variation, I must have gotten one of the really good ones.
To me this is one of those syrahs that feels exactly like how syrah "should" be in it's purest form. That's not to say it's the most incredible syrah I've had in my life, nor is it the only style of syrah I love, but it shows a truly rare sense of balance and beauty with absolutely nothing out of place. I don't say lightly that if I blinded this I would probably call Northern rhone, either a somewhat higher-end St Joseph or a Cote Rotie (reminded me very intensely of the entry-level Rotie from Clusel Roch, around the same price.) A lot of Washington syrah is very savory, but that doesn't mean it's necessarily Rhone-like.
Nose shows loads of pure, pretty, fresh but also dense and ripe blueberries- plus a bunch of high-toned gamey/briney accents that were intense without ever getting in the way of the fruit, nor ever appearing truly "vegetal" (which I don't always love). Cured meat, olive brine, a little funk, but not overwhelming. Not really any noticeable oak. It's complex, but in another way it's straightforward - a pure, harmonious combo of rich dark fruit and super fun, well-integrated savory tones.
Palate is just the same. Super elegant, fresh, lithe, but still intensely concentrated blue fruits glide down with silken tannins, while a pop of briney acidic energy dances in the background. Again extemely harmonious, and extremely delicately or carefully crafted- it's truly amazing how much depth there is here along with such freshness and elegance.
It's not the *best* QPR ever for the usual $80+ price, as I've had a few $50 syrahs that feel very similar, but there's no denying this is special stuff. Compared to other Washington heavyweight syrahs such as the K Vintners Hidden or Cattle King, I found much greater beauty in this (although it was very similar to the K vintners Rock Garden, which is less expensive.)2 people found this helpful Comments (3) -
mojotojo wrote: flawed
October 13, 2021 - Corked
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Pro Reviews 2
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By Stephen Tanzer
Focus on Washington: Hot Times in the Desert (Nov 2016), 11/1/2016 (link)(Gramercy Cellars Syrah John Lewis Washington) Subscribe to see review text.
Full Pull
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By Paul Zitarelli
Full Pull Gramercy, 5/31/2017(Gramercy Cellars John Lewis Syrah) Hello friends. As long time list members know, Full Pull’s relationship with Gramercy dates back as far as Full Pull itself. During Paul’s first research trip for Full Pull, back in summer 2009, when this whole list was still just a dream some mathematician-turned-blogger from Philly had, Greg’s warm hospitality and professionalism set him apart. Well, his warm hospitality, professionalism, and ridiculously good wines set him apart. For our new list members who aren’t as familiar with Gramercy, I’ll let them explain: Gramercy Cellars is an 8,000-case winery founded in 2005 by Master Sommelier Greg Harrington and his wife, Pam, to make Rhône and Bordeaux based wines in Washington State. We believe that great wines share common traits: great vineyards, small production, minimalist winemaking, time, and patience. Gramercy’s philosophy is simple: to develop or partner with the best vineyards, harvest ripe, not overripe, grapes, intervene minimally in the winemaking process, and use as little new oak as possible. The resultant wines display balance, intense fruit notes, strong earthiness, restraint, and elegance. Our wines often require time to develop, but reward that with patience. We seek to produce wines that complement food, provide great pleasure, and stand out as uniquely made in Washington. In many ways, Gramercy and Full Pull have grown together over the last (almost) decade. We’ve always had an affection for Greg and Pam Harrington and Brandon Moss, their partner and co-winemaker, because of that initial interaction, but the sheer caliber of the wines are what bring us back to offering them year after year. Gramercy has built a following, and a whole library of well-reviewed wines, by showcasing a clear house style: low-alcohol, high-acid, terroir-expressive. Named for Pam’s father, John Lewis Plummer, and his generosity that allowed them to start Gramercy, the John Lewis Syrah has always felt like a special offering from the Gramercy Team. The sweet dedication, coupled with this wine’s history of high scores and being the star of most Washington vintages, makes this a feel good wine in more ways than one. This vintage of the John Lewis Syrah was released with the note saying that Gramercy has truly changed their view on Syrah and how it ripens in Washington. In their words: “We feel that with Washington’s abundant sunshine, Syrah reaches full phenolic ripeness much earlier than most in the valley. Each vintage we pick Syrah a bit earlier, seeking freshness and elegance, over sweetness and power.” The 2014 Syrah is all from Block 46 of Les Collines Vineyard and 100% whole cluster fermented, 60% in a Nomblot concrete tank and 40% in small stainless steel bins. The native yeast fermentation lasted 21 days, and then the Syrah was then moved into puncheons to age for 18 months before bottling. Wine Advocate: Copyrighted material withheld.
Wine Definition
- Vintage 2014
- Type Red
- Producer Gramercy Cellars
- Varietal Syrah
- Designation John Lewis Reserve
- Vineyard n/a
- Country USA
- Region Washington
- SubRegion Columbia Valley
- Appellation Walla Walla Valley
- UPC Code 088110554057
Community Holdings
- Pending Delivery 0 (0%)
- In Cellars 352 (67%)
- Consumed 175 (33%)
Food Pairing
No food pairings available.
Who Likes This Wine
100% Like It 13 votes
More About This Wine
Articles
- ProducerGramercy Cellars
- VarietySyrah
- CountryUSA
- RegionWashington
- SubRegionColumbia Valley
- AppellationWalla Walla Valley
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- Wine2014 Gramercy Cellars Syrah John Lewis Reserve (add)
- FamilyGramercy Cellars Syrah John Lewis Reserve (add)
- ProducerGramercy Cellars
- VarietalSyrah
- DesignationJohn Lewis Reserve (add)
- CountryUSA
- RegionWashington
- SubRegionColumbia Valley
- AppellationWalla Walla Valley