For a wine produced from such young vines, I was surprised by the concentration of Latta’s newest syrah, the Piece 2020, when I tasted it in Washington state last month. The vines were only four years old in 2020, and yet this inaugural bottling impressed me with its combination of generosity of fruit, freshness and structure – hallmarks of a great Washington syrah.
The Piece 2020 hails from an extreme vineyard that climbs to over 1,400 feet (426 meters) in elevation at the very top of Red Mountain in Columbia Valley, at and above the boundary of the AVA of Red Mountain. It’s a warm but windy site with steep slopes – some of the vines even have rock cairns built around them to shelter from the wind, and many are head-trained either as bush vines or tied to a stake en echalas. Winemaker Andrew Latta believes that the wind helps retain acidity in the grapes and wines.
“There’s a midline to give in Washington,” Latta said.. “I want to express what Washington gives. It’s syrah from a warm place but keeping some freshness, with a Rhone-like quality but keeping some fruit.”
The Piece 2020 treads this line beautifully, with fantastic freshness and focus to balance the full body and bold black fruit and chocolate aromas. Other exciting wines are being produced by both the vineyard’s estate winery, WeatherEye, as well as by about 10 other producers including Latta, and these are well worth seeking out.
– Claire Nesbitt, Associate Editor
