Cayuse, Cailloux Syrah, Walla Walla Valley 2014

Incorporating a touch more Viognier than normal, the 2014 Syrah Cailloux Vineyard is 93% Syrah and 7% Viognier from the first vineyard planted in the stones region of Walla Walla. Sporting a surprisingly deep, inky color, it offers a heavenly bouquet of black olives, tobacco leaf, smoked meats, pepper, blackcurrant and black cherry notes. Deep, rich and ever changing in the glass, with incredible complexity and layers, this full-bodied masterpiece has building tannin, a stacked mid-palate and a great, great finish. It's pure perfection in Syrah, and the finest vintage of this cuvee ever made. As a bonus, it’s also the largest production Syrah they produce. Bravo!

(aged in 15% new oak foudres; about 50% of the Syrah was vinified with whole clusters): Bright ruby-red. Multidimensional scents of black raspberry, raw green peppercorn, peat moss, whiskey, lilac, violet and wild herbs; plenty of stem complexity here. Juicy and a bit youthfully imploded in the mouth, conveying lovely definition and a light touch to its savory flavors of black raspberry, garrigue and lavender. Still a bit youthfully inky, and tight and firmly tannic on the long, salty, ultimately stylish aftertaste. Lovely precision and finesse here; while the wine is listed at a moderate 13.6% alcohol, there's nothing early-picked about this wine. Baron predicts that this will be best seven or eight years after the vintage, by which time it will be showing truffle and earth notes and less baby fat. The lightest and driest of this trio of vineyard-designated 2014 Syrahs: will it match the 2013 version with bottle age?