A winery that has earned a worldwide reputation for great Walla Walla Rocks Syrah, Reynvaan Family Vineyards continues to impress with their new lineup of exceptional new release wines. I recently had the chance to stop by and tour their gorgeous facility, set in the Blue Mountains outside of Walla Walla. A small winery founded by Mike and Gale Reynvaan, Reynvaan Family Vineyards focuses on producing wines from their estate vineyards, both in the Walla Walla Rocks region and their foothills vineyard set at roughly 1600 feet. Reynvaan has experienced incredible success in an extremely short period of time. Anchored by superstar winemaker Matt Reynvaan, the wines from their ‘In The Rocks Vineyard’ and their ‘Foothills in the Sun Vineyard’ show amazing elegance, balance and complexity. Their ‘In The Rocks Vineyard’ is located next to Cayuse and shares the similar stony and mineral aspects in their wines, while their ‘Foothills In The Sun Vineyard’ shows a different terroir and rich, pure fruit profiles while maintaining balance.

Reynvaan makes some of the best Viognier in the state. Their 2014 Reynvaan Family Vineyards Viognier (WWB, 93) was an incredible dense and viscous treat that maintained wonderful balance and tree fruit flavors. I was absolutely blown away with their new Syrah releases. Their 2013 Reynvaan Family Vineyards ‘In the Rocks’ Syrah (WWB, 96), was an incredibly fragrant and balanced wine that showed wonderful stony aspects and a Burgundian profile. The range of flavors and aromatics in this wine was incredible. Not to be outdone was their 2014 Reynvaan Family Vineyards ‘Foothills Reserve’ Syrah (WWB, 97) (to be released in November 2016). This massive and layered wine was a dense treat that also displays a scintillating aromatic and flavor profile. These wines are incredibly difficult to find, with availability only through their mailing list, as well as some specialty Northwest wine shops. Learn more about Reynvaan Family Vineyards at https://www.reynvaanfamilyvineyards.com. Here are the fantastic new release wines that I recently sampled at Reynvaan Family Vineyards.

2014 Reynvaan Family Vineyards Viognier- This limited production wine opens with aromatics of lychee, roasted pineapple, and Golden Delicious apple. The wine opens with rich flavors of Pink Lady apple, lychee, white peach and hints of jasmine. This has a lovely texture and rich mouthfeel that is nearly unparalleled for Washington Viognier. Drink 2016-2023- 93

2013 Reynvaan Family Vineyards ‘In The Rocks’ Syrah- This wine was co-fermented with 5% Viognier. This wine saw 25% new French oak for 18 months prior to bottling. The Syrah wine opens with dense aromatics of bacon fat, seaweed, creosote, and tangerine rind. There are flavors of wild blackberry, cranberry, tangerine rind, seaweed and smoked pork shoulder. This incredible wine glides through the palate. The elegance of this wine is there as it takes on some Burgundian characteristics. Try to cellar this hard to resist wine for at least another year. Drink 2017-2028- 96

2014 Reynvaan Family Vineyards 'Foothills Reserve' Syrah- This dense colored, heavyhitter of a wine begins with intoxicating aromatics of Unami, wet rock, red cherry, blackberry, white pepper and smoked brisket. The Syrah has deep flavors of Mandarin orange rind, red cherry, red raspberry, creosote and seaweed. The poise, tension and mouthfeel of this wine is amazing. I can see this improving with another year in the bottle. Drink 2017-2028- 97 (Release November, 2016)

2012 Reynvaan Family Vineyards 'The Classic In The Rocks Vineyard' Cabernet- The wine opens with dense aromatics of red cherry, red raspberry, wet rock, and cassis. There are flavors of red cherry, red raspberry, cassis, blackberry and wet gravel. The mouthfeel and texture of this wine is absolutely gorgeous. Drink 2017-2028- 94