2018 Horsepower, The Tribe Vineyard Syrah, Walla Walla Valley, Washington, USA

Bright, dark red. Complex, inviting scents of red and black fruits, violet, black pepper, mulch, smoked meat and olive tapenade. It is concentrated and quite balsamic, conveying a distinct peppery dryness to its dark berries, spices and violet flavours. Juicier than the High Contrast Syrah, but will this leaner, more obviously tannic gain in sweet fruit and pliancy? Less generous in the middle palate and on the finish but shows very good persistence.

Drink 2025 - 2032

Plums, incense, smoke and spices on the nose. Medium-bodied with fine tannins. Smoky and savoury with an inky note in the mouth. It remains balanced and juicy with a flavorful finish. Chewy, too, yet there’s polish and tension at the end with softness and intensity. 

Drink in 2023

8,820 bottles were produced.

The 2018 Syrah, The Tribe Vineyard, opens with a smoky and stemmy nose of bacon fat, black pepper, dusty plum blossom, spicy cherry compote and black raspberry skin tossed in smoked herbs. Medium to full-bodied, this Syrah reveals a firm mineral tension and drying tannins that will be food-friendly in youth or allow it to age for more than a decade. The wine ends with a firm tannic grip that lingers with a spicy and stemmy expression. Give this a year or two in the cellar before opening, and decant for at least 30 minutes before enjoying. The wine rested for 24 months in neutral French oak barrels. 

Drink 2023 - 2038

Another backward, closed wine, the 2018 Syrah The Tribe Vineyard has loads of savoury red and black fruits, crushed violets, cured meats, and peppery herb-like aromas and flavours, with a beautiful underpinning of iron and rocking minerality. Medium to full-bodied and beautifully balanced on the palate, with present yet ripe tannins, give this singular yet also classic, meaty Syrah 2-4 years in the cellar and enjoy over the following 10-15 years.

Drink 2023 - 2028