2018 HFE Bio Syrah
Tasting notes
Rustic, woodsy, meaty, with earthy dark, tart fruits, a lot of earth, smoke, but with a nice touch of sweet herbs and wild blueberry. Rich and full, this Syrah has nice sweetness with a lot of backbone and structure. Flavors of earthy fruit, spice and vanilla coffee. This wine has a laid back feel, while exuding luxury.
CELLARING: This wine is lovely now but, like other Red Mountain wines, should age well, probably peaking in 5 years, but still very drinkable at 10 years old.
Grapes are from the Hedges Estate Biodynamic vineyard. Harvested and crushed into bins where they underwent indigenous yeast fermentation. After pressing the wine was aged in barrel where it underwent indigenous malolactic fermentation. The wine aged 56% new oak, 69% American oak and 31% French oak for 18 months before bottling.
HARVEST: The 2017-2018 winter was extremely mild, fairly dry and quite the opposite of the snow and ice ravaged winter we saw the year before. This mild winter really tricked the vines and other early Spring bud pushing plants to sprout out quickly. Hedges’ estate vineyards were pruned early (beginning in late January) in anticipation for this early bud break and the vines really responded well. We added a few more Biodynamic practices into the mix, such as home brewed horsetail tea spray, which helped us escape some mildew pressure in June. The heat of summer and long sunny days advanced ripening, but the maturation period of early September and October was mild which made for a harvest that you could pick fruit at a slow and steady pace. Overall, the 2018 vintage is going to be a good one!
| Vintage | 2018 |
| Varietal | Syrah |
| Varietal Composition | 100% Syrah |
| Appellation | Red Mountain AVA |
| Vineyard | 100% Hedges Estate Biodynamic Vineyard |
| Acid | 5.5 g/L |
| PH | 3.96 |
| Aging | This wine is lovely now but, like other Red Mountain wines, should age well, probably peaking in 5 years, but still very drinkable at 10 years old. |
| Alcohol | 14.00% |
| Volume | 750 ml |
91 - Jeb Dunnuck
Double Gold - NW Bellingham Wine Awards
Silver - Paris Wine Cup
Top Wine - Slow Wine Guide
