2015 Stolen Horse Walla Walla Valley Syrah

Happy Friday!  For those who've had a long week, the weekend is here, for others, it's still a reason to celebrate.  Today I have a special reason to celebrate as the Fedex man delivered my Fall wine club shipment from the Bledsoe Family Winery, the first such shipment from this new, more approachable spin-off from Doubleback, Drew Bledsoe's first effort in Walla Walla.  So tonight I've decided to open a bottle of the 2015 Stolen Horse Walla Walla Valley Syrah, a blend of fruit from the Loess (60%) and Les Collines Vineyards (40%) made from Syrah (95%) co-fermented with Viognier (5%).  The wine is from an interesting vintage, 2015 being quite warm, and as I recall from my vacation to Walla Walla that year, quite smoky from the many forest fires that were going on around the state.  So I'm interested to see how these wines developed.

The wine is a lovely, deep purple color in the glass.  The nose is a wonderful combination of green grass, with hints of smoke, mint and red berries.  The taste is just lovely with a subdued array of raspberry, cherry and red currant up front that transitions to some some heart smoked meat and tobacco notes midpalate.  The finish is marked by youth, with the lush tannins providing for a lovely and long, dry finish that's countered by a bit of bright acidity to bring some balance.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8.5 as I think it will mature a bit with some age to be more in line with the 2013 vintage I've tried in the past (see here).  This is one of those very versatile, food friendly red wines that I could see pairing with anything from barbecue to hearty steaks, to roasted beet salad, but tonight I am enoying it with some classic comfort food of stuffed peppers topped with aged parmesan and asiago cheese.  Cheers!