When most people think of Oregon, they likely (and probably rightly) think of cooler-climate Willamette Pinot Noir. However, there are two lesser-known, hotter growing regions downstate, including the Umpqua Valley (becoming known for Tempranillo) and Rogue Valley (where many focus on Rhone varieties, but there is also a good bit of Cab grown, and even some Pinot Noir --the "Skipper's Cuvee" bottle from Dobbes being one we've enjoyed in the past). Probably the best vineyard in the Rogue Valley is Del Rio, the source of this Syrah.

Tyrus Evan is a Ken Wright project. He's best known for being one of the best at single-vineyard Pinots from Willamette (probably our favorite winery, and every one we've tried has soared to our all-time favorite wines list), but this is the project for the non-Pinot wines he makes. It's named after his two sons (using their middle names). He uses grapes from all over the Pac NW, from Red Mountain to Walla Walla to the Rogue Valley. We had a wonderful visit and tasted a whole bunch of great stuff on our summer '06 trip out there (the tasting room is in Carlton, Oregon), but this bottle was purchased some time ago at an Atlanta wine shop. We decided to crack it to help us gauge how long to hold the ones we bought on the trip out there.

We decanted about 20 minutes before 1st pour, and we drank it throughout the evening as we decorated the tree. It was a bit cold last night here in Atlanta, so we veered away from our planned Pinot at the last minute. Very dark purple in the glass, with aromas of grape jam, black fruits, and some cracked black peppercorns. Velvet-like in texture, with gobs of jammy fruit. Not too much in the way of earthy nuance, this wine is all about the juicy fruit. Medium-bodied in weight, and it seemed to be opened at the right time, as tannins had somewhat melted away, but there is so much fruit bouncing around in the glass that it's not going to fall away any time soon. Fun to drink, but not quite as good as the Clarets and Malbecs we so enjoyed at the winery during our visit. Frankly, it's just a touch simple and moving in the direction of flabbiness. 14.5% alc. We paid somewhere around $28 locally, and the others we bought at the winery ran in the mid-$20s, making them very nice for the $. We look forward to opening the others in the coming few years.