Cayuse Vineyards Cailloux Vineyard Syrah 2017 / 750 ml.

Lots of blackberry, tar and blueberry aromas with hints of dried earth. Full bodied, tight and focused with intensity and savoriness in the center palate. Plush and attractive at the end, but not overpowering. Drink or hold.

The only Syrah that includes some Viognier, the 2017 Syrah Cailloux Vineyard (this is the same site used for the Viognier) is always a great representation of the vintage as well as the wines of Christophe Baron. Ruby/purple-hued, with a rocking bouquet of black raspberries, smoked game, black pepper, and spring flowers, it has plenty of classic Rocks funkiness and meaty notes, medium to full body, a core of sweet fruit, and a great, great finish. It ranks with the top two to three wines in this vintage. It opens up nicely with time in the glass and shows well today, and it’s certainly going to cruise for 15+ years or more. (Jeb Dunnuck)

The 2017 Syrah Cailloux Vineyard begins generous and inky in the glass, with black fruit at its core and floral aromas of violets and lavender followed by a soft smokiness with layers of olive tapenade and dust-covered black raspberry. Full-bodied, the Cailloux Syrah is intensely complex and reveals layers of crunchy minerality and silky tannins that frame the elegant notions of cherry blossom in the mouth. Ending with a long-lingering and sophisticated finish, the wine continues to reveal its subtleties, expressing umami and savory characteristics. Proving to be yet another stellar bottling from the Cayuse team, the wine dares me to keep my hands off the glass. I can’t… 859 cases produced. (Anthony Mueller)

Bright red-ruby. Highly complex, soil-driven aromas of raspberry, red licorice, smoked meat, pepper and rose petal. Intense, savory and concentrated; quite penetrating and youthful in the way of the 2016 bottling, showing little in the way of easy sweetness in spite of its terrific flavor intensity and depth. Not a thick wine but remarkably juicy. A very structured version of this bottling, in need of time to harmonize, soften and expand. As much saline as sweet, showing a briney olive tapenade note. This Syrah will rely more on its firm tannic spine than on its acidity for energy. Finishes very long and authoritative, if a bit uncompromising today. Incidentally, Cayuse did not bottle a Viognier in 2018 as Christophe Baron and Elizabeth Bourcier decided that the fruit was not up to their usual standards. (Stephen Tanzer)

Structured and impeccably layered, with rich and expressive blueberry and raspberry flavors, laced with licorice, bacon fat and crushed stone notes that pick up speed toward refined tannins. Drink now through 2030. 859 cases made. (Tim Fish)

Coming from the estate’s first vineyard planted in 1997, the aromas are reserved, with notes of soot, raspberry, dried herb, smoked meat, asparagus and plum. The palate brings a sense of elegance, purity and freshness that is captivating. A lingering finish caps it off. It’s a pretty, understated offering from this site. (Sean P. Sullivan)