TASTING NOTES:
Brought up in 15% new oak (with 15% whole clusters), the 2021 Syrah Arnaut is also gorgeous, with a beautiful sense of purity and finesse. Ripe blackberries, hints of red fruits, spicy herbs, leather, and pepper all define the aromatics, and it's medium to full-bodied on the palate, with a pure, elegant mouthfeel and fine tannins. It shines for its overall balance and purity every bit as much as its richness and power. Enjoy bottles over the coming 10-15 years.
- Jeb Dunnuck, 95 pts.
Whiffs of spiced plums and candied cherries introduce this buoyantly fresh-fruited yet dashingly mineral Syrah. It's sun-kissed and opulent yet delicate, its finish edged with whispers of feathery tannins. An elegant single-vineyard expression of Yakima's Boushey Vineyard fermented with indigenous yeasts using 15% whole clusters and aged 18 months in 15% new oak.
- Decanter, 94 pts.
This is a beautifully balanced Syrah that could do another 12-15 years in bottle standing on it its head. It all begins with blueberries, blackberries, black olives, violets and pipe tobacco weaving an aromatic web. The wine's black-cherry flavor is joined by a meaty note suggesting some type of spicy street fare, like taco árabes. Cellar Selection
- Wine Enthusiast, 94 pts.
This generous, ripe and berry-scented wine is steeped in blackberries, strawberries and baked blueberries that ooze through a moderate structure of tannins for a juicy, almost jammy expression thats easy to love. Drink or hold.
- James Suckling, 93 pts.
While darkly alluring and earthy, the 2021 Syrah Arnaut Boushey Vineyard deeply impresses with its soaring floral aromatics and crushed blackberry fruit. This is elegance personified, seamlessly silky and refined with crisp red and black fruits complicated by inner herbal tones. A salty mineral core adds contrast. Sour citrus nuances and Violette pastille add lovely depth through the finish as the 2021 tapers off lightly structured. Salted licorice notes fade slowly. This is dangerously drinkable yet complex and classically formed. Very nice.
- Vinous, 93 pts.
