2019 Majestic GSM Blend
Sean Sullivan (WE) - 92 Points - Editors Choice
Vinous - 92 Points
60% Grenache / 25% Mourvedre / 15% Syrah
Our newest "Maj" kicks off with maraschino cherries, pink peppercorns, sage, wet slate and cinnamon notes. The mouthfeel is focused and bright, with seamless tension on the mid palate and a fine grained tannin finish (think Southern Rhone) that begs you for another taste. This is a wine that will take you places!
SOLD OUT
This wine has one of the most soaring, expressive noses I have experienced so far this year. "A $50 nose," my notes read, and it is a real beauty, offering outstanding floral lift (lilac, violet, freesia) to the raspberry and marionberry fruit, and a terrific sense of brushy garrigue to add complexity. In the mouth, this possesses the fruit generosity of the 2012 vintage, but as typical for Ryan's wines, it has a sturdy acid spine to balance that fruit (listed alc is a reasonable 13.8%). There's a real sense of wildness to this, likely in part from the inclusion of 20% whole cluster (stems and all), and in part from Olsen Mourvedre, which has its own sauvage character. Regardless, this nails the holy trinity of the southern Rhone--brambly berry, hot-rock minerality, and perfumed underbrush-and it does so via a series of seductive, silky, unapologetically delicious mouthfuls. PAUL ZITARELLI, FULL PULL.
Our 2012 Majestic was hand harvested and whole-cluster fermented (20% Syrah & Grenache). The remaining fruit was destemmed and placed into small 1.5-ton fermenters for 12 to 20 days until dry. It was then pressed lightly and put to barrel while it went through ML fermentation. A mixture of punch-downs (mixing the skins with the juice), pump-overs (circulating the juice throughout the fermentation process) and one delestage aided in ideal extraction of the varietals. The wine was then put to barrel on lees (dirty) and stirred every two weeks to build mouthfeel.
| Varietal Composition | 50% Grenache, 25% Syrah, 25% Mourvedre |
| Appellation | Columbia Valley |
| Vineyard | Angiolina Farm, Va Piano, & Olsen Vineyard |
| PH | 3.68 |
| Aging | 9% new oak-Suruge french |
| Alcohol | 13.80% |
| Volume | 750 ml |
Our second illustrious Majestic-GSM comes from three amazing Washington vineyards: Zillah's Angiolina Farm (Grenache clone 03), Walla Walla's Va Piano Vineyard (Syrah-Native), and Yakima Valley's Olsen Vineyard (Mourvedre). The beauty of this wine is all three vineyards bring something different to this Rhone blend. This year, the varietal breakdown is 50% Grenache, 25% Syrah, and a heavy dose of 25% Mourvedre. Although 2011 was stellar, this vintage brings a whole different animal to your glass. Come get it!!
