2013 Syrah Ceidleigh

Winemaker Peter Devison took over here in 2012 after Brennon Leighton had put EFESTÉ on the map for its very intense and often downright wild white wines from the very cool Evergreen vineyard in the Ancient Lakes AVA. Since then, Devison has moved in the direction of making more focused, precise wines through unflagging attention to detail—including keeping the barrels topped up. He expressed a nagging fear that some people believe the EFESTÉ wines now have less personality than previously, but according to my scorecard, quality has been wonderfully consistent here and the red wines are purer than ever. And Devison continues to make the EFESTÉ wines nearly entirely with wild yeasts.

Devison told me that the high-altitude Evergreen vineyard was “okay” in 2015. Warmer areas in the state were far more complicated for white winemaking, he went on, as growers were forced to pick early to maintain acidity. And 2014, he told me, was cooler than 2013: “closer to 2012 while 2013 is an anomaly.” He explained: “2013 was all over the board, with the late-ripening sites doing best. Red Mountain made Cabernet Sauvignon with good structure but struggled with Merlot and early-ripening Syrah. The wines are not as primary or as nectarous as in 2012 or 2014; they have more of an Old World X factor. The fruit is there but the wines are very restrained right now. They will need to break their shells and expand with age."