2013 Syrah Altamont

I was pretty surprised by the wines I tasted at Dehlinger on my last visit. All of the 2013 reds have put on more weight than they showed last year, which I did not think possible. In particular, the 2013 Pinots, which were so showy last year, appear to have shut down pretty dramatically after bottling. The 2014 Pinots appear to be very close in quality to the 2013s, but at this stage, the differences among the 2014s are mostly textural and not especially marked. Dehlinger describes 2013 and 2014 more similar for Pinot than for the later-ripening Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. Both were abundant crops, especially for Pinot Noir, and required considerable thinning. It is too early to know if 2013 and 2014 wines represent a stylistic shift under Eva Dehlinger or are instead simply reflections of the respective vintages, but the wines are unquestionably intense.