2022 Pasxa Rockgarden Estate Syrah

Grape Varietal: Syrah

Country: USA

Region: The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater, Walla Walla Valley, Oregon

The Wine: Pášxa — pronounced "PAH-sha," the Sahaptin word for the balsamroot sunflower native to the valley — is the Rocks District project of The Walls founder Mike Martin, launched in 2018 with winemaker Todd Alexander as a focused investigation into the singular terroir of what critics have called America's most distinctive AVA. Rockgarden Vineyard was planted in 2007 by Nina Buty and viticulturist Dr. Phil Freese, sitting at 900 feet at one of the highest elevations in the center of the appellation, where basalt cobblestones deposited by the ancient Walla Walla River run up to 300 feet deep with virtually no topsoil between them. The thermal mass of the stone amplifies an already extreme climate, shading fruit during peak heat and releasing warmth slowly through the night. Fruit for the Syrah is hand-harvested, sorted, destemmed, and concrete-fermented with a 20-day maceration, then aged 18 months in a combination of new and used large-format French oak barriques and foudre, unfined and unfiltered.

The 2022 Rockgarden Estate Syrah is an arrestingly savory, site-driven expression of what The Rocks does with Syrah at its most precise. It opens with aromas of red currant, mandarin zest, and iron, lifted by smoldering stone, soy, and a thread of dried lavender. On the palate, it is silky and medium-to-full-bodied, with polished tannins, a saline, umami-laced mid-palate, and a long, mineral finish that reads more Blue Mountains than northern Rhône — though the kinship is unmistakable.

Pairing: Roasted bone marrow with sea salt and grilled bread, duck breast with cherry and black pepper pan sauce, a plate of aged Comté with walnuts and dark honeycomb, or a late fall dinner of venison stew eaten slowly with a fire going and nothing left to decide.