100% Grenache; estate-grown in Lyle, Washington; 50 cases produced; brought up in veteran barrels; 14.8% ABV.
My immediate impression is that this wine is unusually extroverted, even flamboyant, and dressed for an evening out. The fruit is vivid and very stylish. The rugged Lyle identity has “cleaned up” nicely, those characteristic juniper notes here less day-in-the-woodsy, more like you’re picking up a certain note in a fragrance the wine is wearing. A glass smells of celebration, the day’s worries put aside.
It is also rather massive, highly textured on the tongue, fit to accompany roasted meats and such– which is not exactly typical around here. The grapes come from a small, long-suffering block we planted on the flood-scoured syncline, and the small harvest was simply stomped on arrival. The cool fermentation ensued with the bunch stems left in the mix, along with the skins, and that tangle of slender wood provided the tannic framework for the finished wine like a new barrel would have.
