Woodward Canyon 2004 Syrah

*Bottle #23: Woodward Canyon 2004 Columbia Valley Syrah

*Price: $34 

*Running Tab: $300

I sell this bottle at the Wine Bar like it's going out of style. I sell it like it's my job, because it is and it's a $54 bottle in-house and for some reason, that comes off as a good deal.

I sell the Woodward Canyon Columbia Valley 2004 Syrah because I think it's an awesome bottle for not a horrible price that I was lucky enough to drink for half off (employee discount, woo!). 

The cream of the crop, so to speak, for Washington wines are now growing in the Walla Walla Valley appellation. The region, which is widely overshadowed by the only decent wines of L'Ecole 41, is standing out as a low-yielding terroir with only 60 acres of vines. Woodward Canyon, along with the preeminence of the noted Leonetti Winery, were the pioneers of the region, putting Syrah and Merlot on the map in Washington wine geography. 

And Woodward Canyon has not faltered since and is now bringing in grapes from Yakima Valley and the Horse Heaven Hills for this vintage. A warm 2004 summer produced rich and complex grapes for the wine. Not to mention the fruit was hand-harvested, which means long, detailed scorching, sweaty days of plucking grapes off vines and not getting the pay deserved for such a task... 

For me, I've always loved Syrah. The Rhone varietal is bold, loud and spicy. She is a full-bodied lady, with tons of flavor and plenty of sass. The tannins should be there but not in your face like a Cab. 

Ol' Pioneer Woody did not disappoint. I was smelling some awesome blackberries, dark red fruits, raspberries, barrels of spice and vanilla. You definitely can smell the alcohol, Syrah's are typically higher in alcohol content per volume but holy moly, this stands out at a robust 15.1%. And I loved every second of it...

At 100% the varietal, the Syran was velvety smooth once in my mouth, giving it a small tannic tongue squeeze - like a hug! - with gentle, medium acidity at most and heaps of fruit. There's definitely an alcoholic aftertaste that lingered but the fruit held on just as long with it. 

Ol' Woody will only get better with age - I give it another five years and some intensity wrinkles should smooth out. 

I swear I don't have a thing for old men.

Score: 8.