K Vintners Motor City Kitty Syrah 2018
-
Suckling
James -
Dunnuck
Jeb
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Penetrating color. Potpourri of aromas. Blackberry, plum and chanterelles continue to engage the palate. Forest floor, cured meat, black cherry and pine needles. Rich, engaging and oh so persistent. Complex to the max. Nothing is spared.
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
There’s real purity of fruit to this with blackberry, blueberry and dark chocolate, as well as crushed-stone undertones. It’s full and focused with structure and purity. Transparent energy to this. Needs a couple of years. Better in 2023 onwards.
-
Jeb Dunnuck
The 2018 Syrah Motor City Kitty Oldfield-Boushey Vineyard is all Syrah from the highest section of the Boushey Vineyard, on the western side of the Yakima Valley. It’s always one of the best values out there. The 2018 sports a dense purple/plum color as well as a smoking bouquet of red and black fruits, minty tobacco, chocolate, and gamey nuances. Rich, full-bodied, and concentrated, yet also with good freshness and ripe tannins, it's going to benefit from a handful of years of bottle age and evolve for a decade. Rating: 94+
Other Vintages
2020-
Suckling
James -
Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Dunnuck
Jeb
-
Suckling
James -
Dunnuck
Jeb
-
Suckling
James -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Parker
Robert
-
Suckling
James -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Parker
Robert
-
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert
-
Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert
-
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
Located at the base of the Blue Mountains in Walla Walla Washington, K Vintners opened its doors to the public on December 3rd, 2001. The property at 820 Mill Creek Road where the winery sits was homesteaded in 1853 with the adjacent farmhouse built in 1872. The winery grounds with Titus Creek flowing through the lawn and the old pioneer planted trees, is a little slice of heartland Americana. The Winemaker: He loves to drink wine! Charles Smith, proprietor and winemaker, comes to Walla Walla after 11 years in Scandanavia. Originally from northern California, he has been involved with wine personally and professionally his whole life. And did we forget to mention... he loves to drink wine! The Vineyards: K Vintners is producing wines from 2 distinctive viticultural zones: Wahluke Slope and Walla Walla Valley. Each of these areas are unique and awesome for Syrah and the Field Blends produced. In April '02 two seperate blocks of vineyards were planted to Syrah adjacent to the winery in the rocky dry creek beds that run through K Vintners property.
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”
As the first recognized wine-growing region in the Pacific Northwest, Yakima Valley is centrally located within Washington’s vast Columbia Valley. The region also includes Washington’s oldest Cabernet Sauvignon vines, Otis Vineyard, planted in 1957, and Harrison Hill Vineyard, planted in 1963. Yakima Valley contains three smaller sub-regions: Rattlesnake Hills, Red Mountain, and Snipes Mountain and is ideal for both red and white wine production. In fact, Yakima Valley is Washington’s most diverse region, boasting more than 40 different grape varieties over about one hundred miles.
The cooler parts of the valley are home to almost half of the Chardonnay and Riesling produced in the state! Both are made in a wide range of styles depending on the conditions of the vineyard site.
But its warmer locations yield a large proportion of Washington’s best Merlot, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon. The finest Yakima Valley reds are jam-packed full of red cherry, currant, raspberry or blackberry fruit, as well as cocoa, herb, spice and savory notes, and exhibit a supple texture, great body, focus and length.