A couple of observations of my own: first, I do think that Washington has found its own voice with Syrah, as it has with other varietals, and I am thinking mostly of Cabernet and Merlot. That voice seems to reflect Washington’s moderate climate (if I can use that word to describe a near desert!) that produces wines that are generally not baked or jammy but nor are they green and excessively “cool-climate”. Syrah is often characterized by its extremes; those extremes have largely been avoided by Washington vintners, in my experience with their Syrah’s (and other red varietals too). This makes them all the more drinkable.

Second, I would just add two other note-worthy Syrah’s from Washington: McCrea Cellars and Sheridan Vineyards. Both make excellent Syrah’s and are worth seeking out.

Mr. Betz focuses on casual consumers on his comments about the relative sugar levels in riesling, but as a “Joe Consumer” guy I’d be horrified if producers in the Mosel eschewed one category or another particularly because riesling is a great “site-communicator” — from trocken to auslese and beyond, it conveys the “somewhereness” that is specific to Mosel riesling: that slate, that twist of lime in the finish! As a Loire partisan, I’d be even more horrified if Vouvray producers chose but one style, and I’d be saddened if chenin grown on Anjou schist was styled to taste like chenin grown on Touraine tuffeau.

Personally, I’d hope that WA producers would pursue the same sense of somewhereness rather than style. I’ve never tasted any Betz wines, but I can say that neither the Reininger merlot nor the Reininger syrah, with their specific dusty minerality, could have come from anywhere but eastern WA, which I think is a real triumph. (The same wines also communicate their variety — the merlot is not structured enough for my taste, which is why I choose not to drink it, while the syrah shows terrific structure, and so I do drink it. And yes, they follow the formula of little or no new oak.)

Let Walla Walla wines be specific and unlike Red Mountain wines, and vice versa. Trumpet these differences. Argentina will eventually (and soon, I think) pay the price for producing the same kinds of malbecs just as Australia has for their shiraz. Let a thousand flowers bloom, rather than just a few here and there.

The later parts of our Columbia Valley growing season offer an advantageous day/night temperature range and the possibility of extending the growing season for minute “bits” of ripening, both sugar and physiological, on a daily basis.

Without being too critical of California Syrah, because there are some compelling wines, I could build an argument that their variations in style have lead to customer confusion and to a lack of the zeal this variety deserves. As the big dog of American winemaking, what holds for California typically applies to other American wine areas in the consumers’ mind. An analogy could be made with Riesling, the great “site-communicator” of white varieties: as long as customers were confused about dry, sweet, medium, dessert, full or light, … the variety foundered. Only with concerted efforts, from a wide range of sources, to help define character and style by origin has the variety been able to get hot.

Syrah needs to do the same. I hope that over time we can achieve a communication of style and character for Syrah for Washington Syrah, and help eliminate confusion for the variety. Perhaps this would help more people to appreciate the genuine pleasure Syrah offers.

The article mentioned 20% – 30% “whole clusters”, which include the stems, in the vinification. Do you if the winemakers meant “whole berries”, which do not include the stems?

Thank you for recognizing the high quality of our Syrahs!