2013 Woodinville Wine Cellars, G.S.M. Columbia Valley, Washington State.
The 2013 Woodinville Wine Cellars Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre Rhone style red blend is gloriously hedonistic and is a purple/black beauty with lovely expressive fruit and dense/lush textures. This Chateauneuf inspired Washington State GSM has Leonetti star power and or the X factor, it reminds me of Charles Melton’s famous Nine Popes from Australia (One of my favorite wines from down under), Stan Barrett and winemaker Sean Boyd have Woodinville Wine Cellars banging on full throttle with this one! Richly packed and with a gorgeous full body the GSM explodes on the palate with blackberry, boysenberry, plum and cherry pie filling along with blueberry, mocha, black licorice, liquid violets, sweet tannin and smoky vanilla and camphor/graphite notes. At first everything is tight, thick and flows with creamy silkiness, but with air the wine gains poise, spice and exotic elements, changing and becoming much more veiled and alive with seductive charms, revealing pepper, lavender, mineral tones and a hint of earthy loam. This baby is really sensual and entertaining given room and time to open up and show off a bit, I can imagine a few more years in bottle bringing out even more class, delicacy of detail and Columbia Valley terroir character, though it is pretty fun now even and great with BBQ, lamb sliders and crispy duck, the finish is ripe with creme de cassis and minty herb, dark chocolate and lingering pomegranate. After tasting Woodinville Wine Cellars 2007 Syrah, I can easily say this wine has a long and rewarding life ahead of it, best from 2016 to 2028.
($35 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive