Syncline Wine Blog

We’ve had some wonderful weeks of sunshine and mild temperatures, which makes pruning the vineyards an almost pleasant task. Up on the hillside the Grass Widows, Prairie Stars, Desert Parsley and Buttercups are beginning to bloom and the garden is planted. We released two new wines last month, The 2008 Columbia Valley Syrah and our 2008 Grenache-Carignan and have been getting a lot of positive feedback on both. If you haven’t tasted them yet plan a trip out to the Gorge, they are selling fast!

· Whites On Sale
· Cold Weather Shipping
· Events This Week
· Wine Enthusiast Scores
· Open House Pictures
· Thank you Nora

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Winter White Sale

To celebrate these last few weeks of Winter we are offering you 10% on our two White wines, the crisp and fragrant Subduction White and the lovely and elegant Roussanne. Both of these wines will not return again until the summer, so stock up while you can! You can purchase them at the winery, or order online using the offer code ‘whitesale’ at checkout. An extra 10% off means our wine club members save 30%!

Cold Weather Shipping

Syncline Wine Cellars would like to assure you are purchasing wine of the hig hest quality. When shipping is less than ideal (like is has been in most parts of the country this winter) we hold your wines at the winery until a window of agreeable weather appears to ship your wine safely. Please take advantage of ordering online, knowing your wine will be shipped when safe to do so. Special note for wine club members- As of this newsletter the weather is still too cold to ship safely to the Mid-west and East coast. We are planning on shipping all remaining wine club shipments on March 15th, weather permitting of course. Please e-mail Sara with any questions.

Events this week

There are lots of exciting events are coming up, here are two that are happening this week. Check the calendar of events for more including Taste of Washington, Passport Weekend in the Gorge and our Spring Releases.

Thursday the 4th of March join James at Palace Kitchen “Meet the winemaker” tasting, Seattle

‘The bustling bar scene and open kitchen with applewood burning grill set the mood at Palace Kitchen‘

This Friday March 5th Sara will be pouring at Cork on Alberta in Portland from 4-7.

‘cork · a bottle shop is a unique shopping experience, featuring hand-selected wines from around the world with a strong focus on value priced wines. We keep our focus on supporting sustainable producers – whether they’re certified organic, biodynamic or just committed to sustainable farming and winemaking practices.’

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Another Wine Enthusiast Score Released

Points – 2007 Steep Creek Ranch

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Valentine’s Day Weekend Open House Pictures

What a great time we had last month at our open house! The weather was gorgeous and the music and laughter is always fun. Thanks to everyone who made it out, it’s always wonderful to see you. Make sure to mark your calendars for Passport Weekend in the Gorge next month!

We’ll Miss You Nora!

A Our lovely tasting room associate Nora is moving to Walla Walla next month to begin an exciting new adventure. We’ll miss her infectious smile and laughter in the tasting room everyday. Thank you for everything and best of luck!

Cheers,

James, Poppie and Ava

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Syncline Calendar of Events:
March 4th “Meet the winemaker” tasting at Palace Kitchen Seattle, Washington	March 5th Syncline wine tasting at Cork wine shop 2901 NE Alberta Street Portland, Oregon 4:00pm-7:00pm
March 18th Pouring at Mantra 2707 NE 114th Avenue Vancouver, Washington	March 27th and 28th Taste of Washington Seattle, Washington
April 1st 2008 Mourvedre and 2008 Pinot Noir Released	April 5th Passport Weekend Preview Hotel Monaco 506 SW Washington Portland, Oregon
April 9th-11th Passport Weekend Wineries of the Columbia Gorge Oregon-Washington	April 10th Columbia Gorge Celebration for Hospice Best Western 1108 East Marina Way Hood River, OR
April 9th-10th McMenamins Celebration of Syrah Edgefield Hotel 2126 S.W. Halsey St. Troutdale, OR

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  (Photography and design by David Lloyd Imageworks) 

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Valentine’s Day Open House This Weekend!

Please join us for an exciting open house this Thursday through Sunday at the winery. Celebrate Valentine’s Day by tasting our two new releases, the 2008 Grenache-Carignan and the 2008 Columbia Valley Syrah. These wines will be expertly paired with artisan cheeses and gourmet chocolate from around the world. We’ll also have live music by the amazing Tyler Matthew Smith on Saturday from 11-4. You will not want to miss this!

Wine Club Shipment

All Midwest and East Coast February Wine Club Shipments have been held at the winery due to cold weather conditions. Wine to all other locations have been shipped. If you have not received your wine please e-mail Sara and we will track it down for you.

New Release Tech Notes

Appellations, vineyards, pairings and tasting notes, Oh my! Interested in digging into the detailed information about our exciting new releases: the 2008 Grenache-Carignan and the 2008 Columbia Valley Syrah? Download our detailed Tech Notes sheets for these wonderful wines.

2008 Grenache-Carignan.pdf

2008 Columbia Valley Syrah.pdf

You can order online or stop by the winery Thursday through Sunday from 11-6.

Ava’s Organic Eggs

Ava has farm fresh eggs for sale at the winery. These gorgeous eggs are from pasture raised chickens and are 100% Organic.

You can purchase them at the winery for $4.00 a dozen.

Thank you for getting us off to a great start this year, hope to see you at the winery!

Cheers,
James, Poppie and Ava

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(Photography and design by David Lloyd Imageworks)

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Happy New Year!

January is the quietest time at the winery. The vines are and the 2009 Vintage resting comfortably in the barrel. We’re gearing up for another busy and exciting year with new wines, a new club level and new events. 

In this issue:

· New Wine Releases
· Wine Club Shipment
· Valentine’s Weekend
· Wine Enthusiast Scores

2008 Grenache-Carignan

We’ve released a brand new wine for you! For seekers of adventure, we have produced a lively and fun red blend. With this limited bottling, we offer a wine of great personality. You will find it loaded with pomegranate, cherry and raspberry aromas and flavors, topped with sweet baking spices, finished with a juicy, yet refined texture.
Itʼs easy to find you have finished the bottle and are wondering – ʻis it ok to open up another?ʼ – go for it. Weʼll keep making more. This wine reminds us of the wonderful Rhone Villages table wines you are served at restaurants during the mandatory two hour lunch break when in Provence, France. Great food matches are: a diversity of slow roasted meats like chicken, turkey, quail, rabbit, frog legs, root vegetable beef stew and ham – or, have it as we do – with lunch!

· $20.00 a bottle, $216.00 a case
· Wine Club Members $16.00 a bottle, $192.00 a case

2008 Columbia Valley Syrah

We’re also releasing The 2008 Columbia Valley Syrah. Blended to showcase classic Washington Syrah, this wine draws from two Horse
Heaven Hills vineyards and one Wahluke Slope vineyard. Brilliant deep ruby color with purple/red interior. Complex aromatics of blackberries and roasted cacao bean accentuate this concentrated Syrah. In the mouth this wine leads off with dark bramble
fruits, and meaty aromas, followed by olive stones, spice, and violets. Substantial weight is brightened by a backbone of acidity and ripe tannins. The tiny hint of Mourvedre blended adds a bit of brightening plum flavors. An intriguing combination of finesse and power that is sure to improve over time.

· $25.00 a bottle, $300.00 a case
· Wine Club Members $22.00 a bottle, $240.00 a case

Wine Club Shipment

This wine club shipment will be the 2008 Grenache-Carignan and the 2008 Columbia Valley Syrah. We will be charging your wine club shipment on the 23rd of January, and all wine will be shipped February 1st. Please e-mail Sara if your shipping or credit card information needs to be updated.

If you normally pick up your wine, we will be charging your card on February 4th. The winery will re-open on February 4th at 11am, and we will be open Thursday through Sunday from 11-6.

Valentine’s Day Weekend Open House

Our first open house of the year takes place February 11th-14th.  Come celebrate with fine wine, artisan cheese and gourmet chocolate while surrounded by the breathtakingly romantic backdrop of the Columbia Gorge. Bring your sweetheart and come sample some wine, cheese and chocolates with us this year.

New Wine Enthusiast Scores Released

2007 Cuvée Elena Red Wine

2008 Subduction Red

2008 Subduction White

2008 Roussanne

We still have a few cases left of Subduction White, Roussanne and Cuvee Elena at the winery. You can order online or stop by the winery after February 4th.

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Wishing you a wonderful 2010 from all of us at Syncline. We hope to see you soon!

Cheers,
James, Poppie and Ava

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(Photography and design by David Lloyd Imageworks)

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Free Holiday Shipping!

Important Reminder! Starting next week we are offering free UPS ground shipping from November 27th though December 15th, so you can share your love of Syncline wines with your friends and family this Holiday season. You can shop online for wine, chocolates and gift certificates. We will wrap, include a gift card with your personal message and ship it for you on us! Just click on our website If you are a wine club member, you may log in with your username and password to receive your 20% discount (if you do not have that information, send me an e-mail and I’d be happy to send it to you) choose you wines, let us know where they are going and enter the coupon code freeship at checkout. We can ship Chocolate and Gift Certificates to every state, we can ship wine to AZ, CA, CO, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IA, NV, NH, NM, NY, NC, ME, MI, MN, MO, OH, OR, TX, VA and WA.
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Open House Thanksgiving Weekend
*Due to the time change the tasting room will close at 5:00pm until Thanksgiving weekend

It’s Thanksgiving weekend at the winery! We’ll have tastings from the barrel and share with you some exquisite European cheeses and chocolates from around the world. Pick up your holiday wines or make arrangements to have them shipped at no cost to you to your family and friends. We’ll be open Friday through Sunday from 11am until 6pm. After the holiday weekend we will switch to our winter hours, 11am-5pm Saturday and Sunday. The tasting room will close for the season 5pm on December 20th and re-open Thursday, February 4th at 11am.


Wineries of Lyle Food Drive

Last Thanksgiving weekend we invited you to bring canned or non-perishable food to the winery and we would wave your tasting fee. Thanks to you generous donations we were able to deliver nearly 200lbs of food for the Columbia Gorge food bank. This year our neighboring wineries are extending this offer as well. Syncline, Cor Cellars, Memaloose-McCormick Family Vineyards and Domaine Poullion will all waive your tasting fee in exchange for a donation of canned or non-perishable food for the food bank. Our goal? Four harvest baskets filled with food! Peanut Butter, canned tuna or chicken, beans, fruits, vegetables. Whatever you can give, we’ll donate all your generosity to this wonderful organization. Thank you for participating!
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Syncline Calender of Events:

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Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving, from all of us at Syncline. We hope to see you soon!

Cheers,
James, Poppie and Ava

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We want to thank our fantastic customers for sharing!

	.. Dear James and Poppie, My wife and I have just been introduced to your wine through a restaurant in Cleveland, the Greenhouse. We love it. It is perhaps the best red we have had all year. And that includes a 2 week trip through Provence this past summer. And we are off to Napa this week and I expect to be disappointed by what we taste. I only wish we could have been introduced to you after our trip – then we would not be disappointed by Napa! You are truly talented. We have never signed up for a wine club, but I can’t find it sold anywhere else near me, so we will likely sign up. Keep up the great work. Terry Coyne

	. I’d like to tell you I didn’t get my Wine Club shipment in the hopes you would send me another – but what I have to confess is that I got it and have drunk it all already. Just great stuff. Thanks. I enjoy your wines so much. Jeff Sconyers .

	. Hi Syncline! I just has my first sip of the 2008 Subduction Red. All I can say is mmmmm… I am the Beer and Wine steward at the Greenlake PCC so I have had, and loved, many of your wines over the years. I just wanted to say thanks for doing what you do. I love selling, and drinking your wines. I really enjoyed the Gruner Veltliner this summer and am thouroughly enjoying the transition to the Subduction Red on this rainy night. It went perfectly with my pumpkin ravioli with brown butter and Chantrelles! Keep it up! -Erica Boberg

We love it when our customers give us feedback! If you have something that you would like to share, drop us a line.

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In this issue:

· Free Holiday Shipping
· Thanksgiving Weekend Open House
· Lyle Wineries Food Drive
· Syncline Events
· Wine Advocate Scores
· Club Members
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Free Holiday Shipping

Mondavi’s quote has always been one of my favorites. Not only does it illustrate my feelings for wine, but reminds me of what this season is all about. Family and friends, warmth of heart and generosity of spirit. This season we have a very special gift for all of our friends.

We are offering free UPS ground shipping anywhere in the Continental US, November 28th though December 15th, so you can share your passion of Syncline wines with your friends and family. Just click on our website log in with your username and password if you’re a member of our wine club (if you do not have that information, send me an e-mail and I’d be happy to send it to you) choose you wines, let us know where they are going and enter the coupon code freeship at checkout. We’ll wrap your wines, include a card with your gift message and ship your gift, weather permitting of course, in time for the holidays. Just our way of saying thank you to all of our friends who have supported us throughout the year.
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Open House Thanksgiving Weekend
*Due to the time change the tasting room will close at 5:00pm until Thanksgiving weekend

This is the open house we look forward to every year, Thanksgiving weekend at the winery. It seems like everyone stops by for a visit bringing with them parents, in-laws, children home from college and friends from out of town to meet and visit with James and Poppie. We’ll have holiday music, tastings from the barrel, and share with you some exquisite European cheeses and chocolates from around the world. Pick up your holiday wines or make arrangements to have them shipped at no cost to you to your family and friends. We’ll be open Friday through Sunday from 11am until 6pm. After the holiday weekend we will switch to our winter hours, 11am-5pm Saturday and Sunday. The tasting room will close for the season 5pm on December 20th and re-open Thursday, February 4th at 11am.

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Wineries of Lyle Food Drive

Last Thanksgiving weekend we invited you to bring canned or non-perishable food to the winery and we would wave your tasting fee. Thanks to you generous donations we were able to deliver nearly 200lbs of food for the Columbia Gorge food bank. This year our neighboring wineries are extending this offer as well. Syncline, Cor Cellars, McCormick Family Vineyards and Domaine Poullion will all waive your tasting fee in exchange for a donation of canned or non-perishable food for the food bank. Our goal? Four harvest baskets filled with food! Peanut Butter, canned tuna or chicken, beans, fruits, vegetables. Whatever you can give, we’ll donate all your generosity to this wonderful organization. Let’s fill some harvest baskets!

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Syncline Events

Please join Nora in Seattle this November 21st for one of the hottest wine events of the year! The Washington Wine Commission presents: 20 Something-The new Vintage at Fremont Studios in Seattle WA. “Featuring more than 75 of the hottest Washington winemakers pouring their $30 and under favorites, and the trendiest up-and-coming chefs serving delicious culinary treats. Of course, the 35 and under “at heart” are welcome as well. The event is for ALL present and future fans of Washington wine. Come mix & mingle with the winemakers and other 20somethings!”

Sara will be pouring Syncline Wines November 10th at Vino Vixens from 6-8pm. “Vino Vixens is a hip, unpretentious, unassuming yet unmistakable wine shop and lounge in the heart of the up-and-coming Inner SE Powell neighborhood.” Live music, free pool and foosball, darts and Syncline Wines. Sounds like a great Tuesday evening to me.

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Jay Miller of The Wine Advocate names Syncline one of Washington’s “New Stars”

“Poppie was so sweet, she could have been pouring gasoline into my glass and I still would have bought it” -overheard in
tasting room.

Lucky for you it’s not gasoline, but highly rated wine. Jay MillerRobert Parker’s ‘The Wine Advocate’ recently had some very nice things to say about Syncline wines and the passionate people who create them. of

Of the 2007 Cuvée Elena Jay writes: ‘The wine has terrific aromatics that would make most producers of Chateauneuf-du-Pape very proud.’ 93 Points.

The 2007 Mourvedre? ‘It has an untamed bouquet of underbrush, truffle, wild blueberry, and blackberry liqueur leading to an intense, concentrated, dense, rich wine with exceptional length.’ 93 Points.

Here’s how he describes Syncline’s Pinot Noir: ‘It displays a lovely perfume of black raspberry and black cherry. Silky-textured, sweetly fruited, and elegant’ 91 points.

For a full list of the six wines that scored over 90 points and their descriptions, follow our blog. Bad news, All wines mentioned with the exception of the 2007 Cuvee Elena are sold out at the winery. Good news, there is still time to join our wine club! As Syncline wines become harder and harder to find, you can rest easy knowing your allocation will be automatically shipped to you four times a year. E-mail Sara for all the details.
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Special Note to Club Members

The last club shipment of 2009, the 2008 Subduction Red has been shipped. If you have not received your wine, please call the winery or e-mail us so we can follow up on it. If you normally pick up your wine at the winery, please do so by December 5th, or we will make arrangements to have it shipped to you.

You are more than welcome to pick up your wine Thursday through Sunday, 11-5 through the month of November, or drop by our open house Thanksgiving Weekend Friday through Sunday from 11-6.

Your next wine club shipment will be in February of 2010. We will be announcing the details of an exclusive new wine club membership in our next newsletter, available only to current members of the Syncline Wine Club. Amazing wines, exclusive specials and rewards! Thank you for being such wonderful friends and customers.

Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving, from all of us at Syncline. We hope to see you soon!

Cheers,
James, Poppie and Ava

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Hot off the presses! We just got the new Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate scores from Jay Miller, check it out:

2007 Syncline Cuvee Elena - G S M C
Columbia Valley

Rating: 93
Drink: 2009 – 2019
The 2007 Cuvee Elena is a blend of 70% Grenache, 17% Mourvedre, and the balance Carignan, Cinsault, and Syrah. The wine has terrific aromatics that would make most producers of Chateauneuf-du-Pape very proud. Aromas of spice box, raspberry, cranberry, garrigue, and underbrush lead to a silky, elegant, exceptionally concentrated and impeccably balanced wine that can be enjoyed now and over the next 8-10 years.

2007 Syncline Mourvedre
Coyote Canyon Vineyard

Rating: 93
Drink: 2013-
The 2007 Mourvedre Coyote Canyon Vineyard was raised in seasoned 500-liter barrels. It has an untamed bouquet of underbrush, truffle, wild blueberry, and blackberry liqueur leading to an intense, concentrated, dense, rich wine with exceptional length. The wine demands 4-6 years of cellaring to give its full expression.

2007 Syncline Pinot Noir
Celilo Vineyard

Rating: 91
Drink: 2009-2015
Syncline produces a Columbia Gorge Pinot Noir (a few others are reviewed in my Oregon report.). The 2007 Pinot Noir Celilo Vineyard is sourced from a dry-farmed vineyard planted in 1972. The wine was aged for 12 months in 20% new French oak. It displays a lovely perfume of black raspberry and black cherry. Silky-textured, sweetly fruited, and elegant, it can be enjoyed now and over the next 6 years.

2007 Syncline Syrah
Columbia Valley

Rating: 93
Drink: 2009-2015
The 2007 Syrah is 65% Horse Heaven Hills and 35% Wahluke Slope fruit. An enticing nose of spice box, smoked
meat, hung game, and blueberry are first class. This leads to an elegant yet mouthfilling Syrah that has  exceptional concentration and length. It can be enjoyed now for its fleshy fruit but will be more refined and civilized with 6-8 years of additional bottle age.

2008 Syncline Rose
Columbia Valley

Rating: 90
Drink:-
The 2008 Rose is a mouthwatering blend of 44% Cinsault, 30% Grenache, 17% Mourvedre, and 9% Counoise made entirely from saignee juice. It delivers a spicy bouquet of strawberry and rhubarb leading to a wine which is dry on the palate, exceptionally fruity, and rich. It is a splendid match with salmon.

2008 Syncline Viognier
Coyote Canyon Vineyard

Rating: 90
Drink: 2009-2012
Syncline’s 2008 Viognier Coyote Canyon Vineyard offers a
lovely nose of baking spices, floral notes, peach, and
apricot. Very concentrated, savory, and ripe, this classy
Viognier will provide pleasure for another 2-3 years.

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She showed up at the winery a few weeks ago and has joined the flock of chickens. We need a name! email your suggestions,  join the discussion on Facebook or Twitter, if we choose your name you win a bottle of wine. Like, a 2006 Mourvedre. Interested?

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Syncline Winery and close nieghbors Domaine Poullion are featured in an exciting article titled “Chasing the Grape: A Washington State Wine Trail” by Tim Wildman. Below is an excerpt from the article:

Chasing the Grape: A Washington State Wine Trail

- by Tim Wildman

Photo: Columbia Gorge by Jan Tik

DAY 4 – COLUMBIA GORGE
Spectacular views, surprising sculpture, frisbee golf and some stylish Syrah

A morning’s drive west to the Columbia Gorge. First stop is the Maryhill Museum of Art where to my amazement they house a permanent collection of Rodin originals, before heading to Maryhill Winery (winner of the 2009 Washington Winery of the Year) which is perched on the edge of the spectacular Columbia Gorge. As I taste some delicious Gewurztraminer and Zinfandel with owner Craig Leuthold he explains that the gorge was formed by the massive erosive force of glacial floods during the last ice age. As a consequence Washington State is covered with a “young” top soil; a fine, wind-blown sandy loess, in which the infamous phylloxera bug cannot survive. This means that all grape vines in Washington State are planted on their own roots. I personally believe this plays a large part in explaining the great fruit purity and clear varietal character I was seeing in so many of the wines I tasted.

On the road again to Syncline Winery for lunch with the delightful James and Poppy Mantone who moved to the Columbia Gorge and founded the winery in 2001. Their wines shine with great purity, complexity, sparkling minerality and downright drinkability – the Roussanne, Mourvedre and Syrah are standouts. It should be no surprise that Rhone varietals do so well here, as the eastern half of Washington State enjoys over 300 days of sunshine a year; the perfect conditions for growing grapes. In fact much of the landscape I’m passing though reminds me of Languedoc or Provence.

After lunch I pay a visit to neighbours Domaine Pouillon where artisan winemakers Alexis and Juliet Pouillon are handcrafting some sublime, delicious wines, before heading back to Syncline for a few “holes” on the frisbee golf course James has designed in the backwoods and gullies of his property – great fun.

Any visit to this part of Washington State should include a night at the spectacularly situated Skamania Lodge – worth visiting for the jaw-dropping view of the river from the lounge alone, and of course, to check out the superb local wine list in their restaurant.

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Beginning of full article: “Chasing the Grape: A Washington State Wine Trail”

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