A winery with serious terroir, Delmas is a family project based in the rocks region of Walla Walla valley. The epicenter of this project is the SJR Vineyard, planted in 2007 and located on the western border of this Oregon AVA. Delmas focuses on making single-vineyard, estate-controlled wines utilizing sustainable farming practices with a special vineyard management focus on form, trellis structure, pruning rigor, nutrient and irrigation strategy. Some big players in wine, including Gramercy Cellars, Rotie Cellars and Rasa Vineyards, buy SJR vineyard fruit for their wines. Superstar winemaker, Billo Naravane, of Rasa, heads this project. These guys make one wine and one wine only, a Syrah. Their new release Syrah was a compelling wine from the warm 2013 vintage. I blind tasted the wine 95 points and it is a stunner. Immediately you notice the rocky soil of The Rocks region. It has beautiful terroir and balance and shows the brilliance of winemaking by Naravane. This limited production winery is hard to find and is mailing list only. Learn more about Delmas at delmaswines.com
Here is the new release 2013 Syrah from Delmas:
2013 Delmas Syrah- Billo Naravane of Rasa heads this winemaking project. The wine is a blend of 91.9% Syrah and 8.1% Viognier from SJR Vineyard in the rocks region of Walla Walla. This was aged 14 months in French oak (65% new), prior to bottling. This compelling wine opens with aromas of wet stone, smoked meats, creosote and oak. It continues to deliver rich flavors of milk chocolate, blackberry, cedar and smoked meat which flow through this textured and balanced red. Allow this at least an hour of air contact if approaching early on. (Drink 2016-2027)- 95