2016 Anvil Boushey Vineyard Syrah

Well, the week is finally starting to wind down, so I've decided to open a nice bottle of wine to enjoy with dinner tonight.  I've decided on a Yakima Valley wine since I recently saw an article about halibut season in the northwest and I wanted to at least enjoy it vicariously!  Tonight I've opened a bottle of Forgeron's 2016 Anvil Boushey Vineyard Syrah, This limited production (210 cases) wine is 100% Syrah from the Boushey Vineyard, which sits upon basalt and silt deposits from the Missoula floods at an elevation of about 1,400 feet.  This wine was carefully crafted and then barrel aged for an extended period of nearly two years before it's release this spring.  So let's see how it's tasting!

The wine is a deep, inky indigo at the center, with bright ruby along the edges.  The wine casts aromas of blackberry, leather and mint in a striking layered approach.  The taste is a wonderfully complex combination of blackberry and cherry fruit up front that cascades into notes of violets, oak and a bit of earthy mushroom midpalate.  The tannins are precisely structured to provide a long, smooth and very dry finish that dances on your palate enticing you to another sip.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 9, it's clearly one of my favorite syrahs of the 2016 vintage.  The great fruit and layered complexity of this wine are sure to make this one a crowd favorite for years to come.  I also consider this wine extraordinarily food friendly, and although it makes an easy pairing with lamb or other game, it would also be a great wine to accompany robust fish or even vegetarian dishes.  Tonight I am enjoying this wine with the steak of the ocean, a wonderful fresh halibut filet pan seared in rendered Berkshire bacon fat along with some gemelli tossed with broccoli rabe sauteed in olive oil and garlic.  What a remarkable meal!