2018 Charles Smith Wines Syrah Royal City Stoneridge Vineyard

Magenta in the glass, the 2018 Syrah Royal City offers a lighter expression of Syrah with a firm notion of dusty black cherry skin, notions of teriyaki beef jerky and dusty flowers with smoked plums before a delightful petrichor note lifts from the glass. Medium to full-bodied, the wine is loaded with umami sensations and firm mineral tension on the palate, with a dusty plum blossom essence that somersaults across the mid-palate with a textually pleasing mouthfeel. It’s a robust and pleasing wine without being overdone or offering a heavily weighted or over-oaky expression that may sometimes distract from the sincerity of sense of place. The wine glides to a long, evolving finish and lingering stemmy flavor with fresh red berries and soft florals. It’s not as big or as extracted as previous releases but will most definitely stand apart in a vertical tasting of past and present bottlings.