2016 Betz Family Syrah La Côte Patriarche

The 2016 La Côte Patriarche is very promising indeed, offering up complex aromas of crunchy cassis, violets and pungent black pepper. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, leading with a lavish attack that gives way to a layered, vibrant mid-palate with a deep core of crunchy fruit and bright balancing acids. The finish is long and beautifully defined. This contains the fruit of vines planted in 1986, some of the oldest Syrah in Washington.

The 2016 Syrah La Côte Patriarche is, as always, all from the Red Willow Vineyard, fermented with one-third whole clusters, and the 2016 was brought up in 50% new oak, which is slightly higher than normal. Violets, blueberries, spring flowers, and exotic fruit characteristics all emerge from this inky, tight, full-bodied effort that has stunning purity of fruit as well as a great finish. Owned by the Griessel family since 2011, Betz Family Winery still has Washington State’s incredible ambassador of Bob Betz firmly involved in the winery, with the wines made by the talented Louis Skinner since 2013. This is an undeniable reference point estate for the Washington State and the wines go from strength to strength. Today, they are at the top of the hierarchy in just about every vintage. In addition, while it would be easy to sit back and maintain the status quo at an established estate like this, they continue to push for improvements in quality at every level, purchasing an optical sorting machine in 2015, creating a second wine, doing an even more strict selection for their top cuvées, and experimenting with stems in the ferments as well as with different sizes (and types) of vessels in their vinification and aging regimes. This is a terrific, world-class estate that readers need to try, and both the 2014s and 2015s are incredible wines.