Happy Washington Wine Month to you all. Matt Reynvaan has done it again. Chatting with him last week at his estate, he mentioned how excited he was about his energetic 2016 red wines. I was super impressed with his head-turning lineup. For those who are less familiar with this great Washington winery, Reynvaan is a limited production 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 near their family home in the Bluewood Mountains. Matt Reynvaan, is making some of the best wines in Washington state. I am enamored by what he produces from these two outstanding vineyards. I am particularly amazed with their ‘Foothills Vineyard’ which is starting to capture more of a stony character and amazing herbal tones in their wines. Both vineyards show a remarkable level of purity, elegance and range that is nearly impossible to find in any Syrahs produced in North America.
Now I realize that I have recently written about these wines. It is very rare for me to post about a winery twice in a month, but I simply cannot keep these amazing pre-release wines a secret. The 2016 Reynvaan red wines come from another warm vintage in the Walla Walla Valley. While there were not quite as many heat spikes as 2015, 2016 was another warm vintage somewhat similar to 2014 in terms of weather patterns. I am absolutely crazy about his 2016 Reynvaan Family Vineyards ‘Foothills Reserve’ Syrah (WWB, 96) which has a stunning wine that shows insanely good range and tension. While this will cellar marvelously for a decade, why wait when it is this good? Even better and one of the best wines that I have tried all year is the 2016 Reynvaan ‘Stoneessence’ Syrah (WWB, 97) which is a remarkable wine that maintains amazing poise and shows amazing weight and complexity of flavors. Learn more about these amazing wines at https://www.reynvaanfamilyvineyards.com Here the exciting pre-release wines by Reynvaan Family Vineyards
(All wines will be released in Fall 2018.)
Great photo here of Matt Reynvaan with his wines.
2016 Reynvaan Family Vineyards ‘In The Hills’ Syrah- The smoky aromatics grip you as well as the lifted qualities from the Viognier. The wine weighs in at 13.8% alcohol and shows smoked brisket, wet rock, and Umami, bacon fat and blood orange rind on the highly perfumed nose. The palate shows an insanely good mouthfeel with wonderful freshness and minerality. The combination of richness and tension is hard to resist right now. The stony character and herbaceousness to the wine really shimmers in the limelight. Black tea, wild blackberry, orange zest and a touch of milk chocolate flavors brings a wonderful array of flavors to the palate. While this will cellar well for a decade, it is drinking marvelously right now. Drink 2018-2028- 94
2016 Reynvaan Family Vineyards ‘Foothills Reserve’ Syrah- The 2016 ‘Foothills Reserve’ is a phenomenal wine that is truly one of the best that I have sampled from Washington in the past year. The nose takes on incredible range from blood orange, to charcuterie to black fruits and olive tapenade. The seductive nose brings you back to the glass for more. The palate shows remarkable freshness and intensity. Asian spice, Hoisin sauce, black tea, blackberry pie and wet stone characters all come to play on the palate. There is a seamless quality to this wine that glides through the palate. Fresh and energetic, while highly refined, this wine will cellar marvelously over the next decade. I adore the range here. Drink 2018-2029- 96
2016 Reynvaan Family Vineyards ‘In The Rocks’ Syrah- The 2016 Reynvaan ‘In The Rocks’ Syrah is a phenomenal wine made by superstar winemaker Matt Reynvaan. With 4% Viognier blended in the nose is highly perfumed with wet stone, Umami, white rose and lychee as well as blood orange and red raspberry cordial. The lifted aromatics from the Viognier are truly outstanding. The palate shows wonderful tension, range and verve with wet stone, Umami, blood orange, red cherry candy and a touch of horse manure. Seductive, with insanely good range, this is a stunning effort by Reynvaan. Drink 2018-2028- 95
2016 Reynvaan Family Vineyards ‘The Contender’ Syrah-This wine weights in at 13.2% alcohol has 4% Marsanne blended in. The nose is highly seductive with beautiful white flowers, lychee with black tea, orange zest and milk chocolate. The range here is simply insane. The palate shows really good range as well with a wonderful tension and verve. Milk chocolate, black tea, sagebrush, wet stone and smoked pork shoulder flavors are all remarkably coming together in the glass. The citrus aspect at the finish is simply outstanding. Drink 2018-2028- 95
2016 Reynvaan Family Vineyards ‘Stonessence’ Syrah- The 2016 Reynvaan Family Vineyards ‘Stonessence’ Syrah is a simply gorgeous effort by this storied estate. The nose is rather intoxicating with horse manure, blood orange, red cherry cola, and black tea with a touch of green olive tapenade. The minerality and freshness of the wine is simply astounding as is the wonderful mouthfeel. Wet stone, wild blackberry, Umami, and satsuma orange flavors all come together in the glass. The mouth-watering acidity makes this stunner nearly impossible to put down right now. A remarkable wine, this will cellar marvelously for a decade or more. Drink 2018-2028- 97
2016 Reynvaan Family Vineyards ‘The Classic’ Red Wine- (Release April 2019) The wine is a blend of 60% Cabernet with the remainder Merlot and Cabernet Franc. The wine initially fermented in new puncheons and then was aged in neutral French oak prior to bottling. This takes on wonderfully smoky character on the nose with wet stone, green bell pepper, mocha and crushed mint. The wine has a wonderful minerality with great freshness and a wonderful mouthfeel. This shows mouth-watering acidity and wonderful dark fruits that mingle with green olive tapenade, cigar box, wild blackberry pie and Asian spice. This may be the best ‘The Classic’ I have tried. Drink 2018-2026- 94