2020 Syrah
SHIPPING ONLY
NOT AVAILABLE FOR PICK-UP
Tasting Notes
Our 2020 Airfield Syrah, a rich and full-bodied Syrah displays aromas of dark plums, sweet cassis melded with hints of orange oil, soy sauce and peppered wild game. The palate displays silk like texture with flavors of baker’s chocolate, blackberry cobbler, salted toffee, and a touch of black olive tapenade. The wine has a flesh like finish that lingers with beautiful notes of oak and a touch of wet stone. Enjoy now through 2034, optimal maturity should peak around 2028.
Awards
90 | Wine Spectator
Zesty and lively, with appealing raspberry, toasty spice and licorice flavors that glide on a long finish toward polished tannins. Drink now through 2030. 1,893 cases made.—T.F.
90 | The Wine Panel
A ripe, juicy Syrah that over-delivers for its' price. Enjoy notes of orange peel, blackberry, and cola, with very soft tannins in the distant background. A very approachable, soft and smooth expression of this grape, with abundant but not overdone fruit.
GOLD | Houston Rodeo Wine Competition
Regional Class Champion
Vineyard Designation
100% Estate Grown
Vintage Notes
The 2020 vintage will go down as a very memorable year. The growing season was exceptional with a mild winter, warm spring, and moderate summer. Bud break occurred 2 weeks earlier than normal and veraison was well ahead of schedule too. Just as we were preparing for an early start to harvest, wildfires in the Northwest created a thick cloud of smoke over Washington State. Concerns arose about exposure to smoke. Taking a cautious approach, we delayed harvest until the smoke cleared and conducted tri- als to determine the effect of smoke on our grapes. Fortunately, results showed no sign of smoke taint. Proximity to the source of smoke plays a big factor, and our vineyard was a long distance away. Overall, we have not seen any impact of smoke on the 2020 vintage. Another major event of this vintage was an early frost that occurred the second week of October. Our winemaking team worked tirelessly long hours leading up to the frost. By the time our vineyards had been impacted by the cold spell, our winery was stuffed with fermenting grapes and harvest was 95% complete. All remaining grapes were then hand-harvested and sorted with an optical sorter to remove any excessive M.O.G. or bad grapes. After our wines completed alcoholic fermentation, we were very pleased with the results. We at Airfield have another stunning vintage for you to enjoy. The 2020 wines showcase an abundance of ripe fruit aromat- ics, low tannin profiles, and exceptionally balanced finishes.
Winemaking Notes
Our Airfield Syrah is sourced exclusively from our Estate Vineyard located in the Yakima Valley AVA. Creating a wine of this caliber starts in the vineyard where we meticulously manage the size of the crop, then late in the season make sure the vines have proper exposure to ensure we achieve optimal ripeness. Harvested in the middle of October, the grapes were destemmed but not crushed and sorted using an optical sorter before being sent to small fermenters. To obtain more complex aromas and mouthfeel, the wine underwent a native ferment, using the grapes natural yeast to complete alcoholic fermentation. Extraction on Syrah’s are always my favorite as we can use many methods of extraction without fear of over extracting flavors. Fermented at temperatures of 88-90 degrees with aggressive extraction methods used early on such as a delastage, then tapered off to more gentle extraction methods as to not over extract the wine and maintain a soft and lush mouthfeel. Fermented on the skins until dry for about 17 days then drained and gently pressed. After pressing the wine was then sent to French Oak barrels with 35% New French oak, 25% 1–3-year-old French Oak and 40% Neutral Oak and inoculated for Malo-Lactic fermentation. After MLF was completed, the wines lees were stirred twice a month for three months. Incorporating lees into the wines naturally softens the wine, creating more roundness and depth on the palate. During aging, the care of the wines is meticulous work. We top every wine twice a week and this wine had 3 rackings during its aging. Aged for approximately 17 months in French oak before being racked to a concrete tank for 1 month of concrete aging then prepped for bottling.
Food Pairing
Rib-Eye Steak au Poivre
Leg of Lamb Shawarma
Cider-Maple Pork Chops with Woodland Bitters Compote
Edam or Parmesan
- Varietal Composition: Syrah
- Appellation: Yakima Valley
- Cases Produced: 1,890 case
- Alcohol: 14.6
- pH: 3.9
- Acidity: 5.4
- Ageability: Now through 2033