We were astonished and delighted to discover that the 2015 Firebird Summit View Vineyard Syrah from the Milton-Freewater, Oregon, side of the Walla Walla Valley AVA has been rated “Outstanding!” by the distinguished palates of the reviewers at Great Northwest Wine. Here’s what they said:
French horn musician Dave Specter has focused his young Willamette Valley boutique winery on Pinot Noir, but he’s been slowly refining his Syrah program using Walla Walla Valley fruit. His work here with Summit View Vineyard, planted by the respected Tom Waliser, is stellar. The Milton-Freewater, Ore., site that’s adjacent to Seven Hills Vineyard and part of the SeVein development allows Specter to produce three barrels of a Syrah with a rich purple color and filled with aromas of Marionberry jam, moist earth, leather and blueberry. It shows cool-climate properties with its juicy profile of boysenberry and pie cherries, backed up by crunchy tannins and blackberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream.
While that’s the good news, the bad news is that the 2015 Firebird sold out last September. However, all is not lost. The 2016 Firebird is—in our humble opinion—every bit as tasty as the 2015.
In our experience working with Tom and the Summit View team for the past five years, the Summit View Vineyard source produces consistently similar fruit that responds exceptionally to Dave’s winemaking style. Vintage over vintage, Firebird shows only slight flavor and mouth-feel variation (unlike our Titan Pinot Noirs, which are a true reflection of each unique growing season).
We are currently pouring barrel samples and accepting pre-orders for the 2016 Firebird, so if you want to make sure some winds up in your collection (or your belly), contact us today so you don’t miss out. We’re anticipating roughly 70 cases this year, and a quarter of that has already been pre-sold.
