2019 Hundred Suns, Syrah, Columbia Gorge AVA, Mosier, Oregon.
The incredibly distinctive, complex, crunchy and pleasure filled deep fruited Syrah from Grant Coulter, the ex Beaux Freres Pinot ace behind Oregon’s Hundred Suns Wine, is a deep and dark purple/garnet hued, nicely aromatic and full bodied effort from the Three Sleeps Vineyard in Oregon’s Columbia Gorge region along the river, quite aways away from the Willamette Valley. The Hundred Suns Columbia Gorge Syrah has a richly packed palate, influenced by the semi-carbonic, whole cluster fermentation, which allows for its silken tannin, savory tones and exotic layering of boysenberry, damson plum, pomegranate, black cherry and blueberry fruits, that are all seamlessly folded together at this stage along with hints of wild sage, licorice, warm tiles, liquid violets, a touch of umami, camphor, sandalwood and lingering creme de cassis. Partially amphora raised, this wine marries new world ripe flavors with traditional Northern Rhône character really well, there’s a clarity and elegance that mark Coulter’s style too, making for an exceptional, thinking person’s wine that is hitting its stride right now, and I’m so happy I had tucked this one away for an extra few years before opening it! Hundred Suns says that the 2019 vintage was a long growing season with moderate but dry days and cool nights blowing from the vast Columbia River, and that they were lucky to secure a mere 1.5 tons of mixed clone Syrah from this Three Sleeps Vineyard located in Oregon’s Columbia Gorge AVA, again making it a rare gem in the portfolio of small batch releases, and kinda lost in the lineup next to all those beautiful Willamette Valley Pinots. The vines here, planted in 2002, all sustainable farmed sit on silted loam over volcanic basalt soils and see warm sunny days and cool nights from the Gorge’s river influence, which delivers excellent conditions for full flavor development and retainment of fresh acidity, as seen here. Coulter has also reached into “The Rocks” in the gateway to the Walla Walla region for Syrah as well, but this wine is utterly delicious and compelling.
Hundred Suns Wine, founded in 2016 by the mentioned Great Coulter and his wife Renée Saint-Amour, both from Monterey, California at one point, where I’m also from, who have found their place in the Oregon wine community, mostly known for crating small lot Pinots and Chardonnay in the Willamette Valley with a modern winemaking twist, the combines ancient techniques with more recent and ultra clean practices. I’m a huge fan of these wines, as witnessed by the number of reviews found here at grapelive.com and the number of bottles I have of Hundred Suns, which are just for my own drinking pleasures! I first met Grant Coulter briefly durning the run up to his harvest at Beaux Freres in 2008, and told by his boss Mike Etzel that Grant was a star in the making, and I had loved the those vintages of Beaux Freres during his run there in particular. While there he was able to work a bit with Grenache, which he has made at Hundred Suns and in recent times he has added Gamay, Cabernet, Syrah, as seen here and continues to explore varietals and different fermentations each year. I’m also impressed by the aging potential, the wines are immediately pleasing, with a bright freshness of detail, but do open up, as this one did to reveal a more sultry and seductive side with some secondary evolution appearing subtly in the background with tobacco leaf, a hint of meatiness, fig paste, espresso and woodsy elements adding to the complexity here. For this wine, Coulter employed a carbonic start in sealed fermenters, one third being a terracotta amphora, after which the wine was foot stomped and saw a long maceration with all native yeasts. Post fermentation the wine was then matured for 20 months in a combo of neutral French oak and the Amphora, then bottled unfined and unfiltered, capturing every bit of natural nuances of year and place. The Hundred Suns wines, are truly enthusiast bottlings, I highly recommend getting on their mailing list, of course grab the Pinots, but don’t overlook the fabulous Gamay, a favorite of mine, and the intriguing Syrah offerings!
($46 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive