A beautiful Syrah that’s always up near the top of any vintage, the 2013 Syrah John Lewis comes all from the Les Collines Vineyard in the Walla Walla AVA (this is not in the rocks portion of the AVA), and is fermented with no destemming followed by aging all in older puncheons. This fabulous 2013 offers beautiful notes of ground pepper, lavender, olive and smoked dark fruits. This gives way to a layered, full-bodied and concentrated Syrah that as a core of sweet fruit, a supple, sexy texture and a great finish. It benefits from a decant if drinking anytime soon, and will have 15-20 years of overall longevity. 95 points

(made entirely with whole clusters; 13.5% alcohol). Deep red-ruby. Wild, musky aromas of dark raspberry, graphite, licorice, brown spices, dried flowers, crushed rock and peppery herbs. Wonderfully fine-grained and savory in the mouth, showing outstanding tension and peppery lift to the raspberry, black olive and mineral flavors. A very subtle, sharply delineated Syr ah with a restrained sweetness and a long, slowly building finish featuring suave, palate-dusting tannins. I find this more complex and much easier to taste than the 2012 at a similar stage of its evolution. 93+? points