Fausse Piste, River Rock Syrah, Walla Walla Valley

badly corked; it went down the drain.

Bottle 12 to finish the case. Black fruit well integrated into a granite and savory core. Not much acidity and tannin is integrated.

Black fruit very well integrated with granite and minerality in the middle moving towards the medium length finish. Good mouthfeel and a little zip of acidity towards the finish. Was probably better a couple years back. Bottle # 11.

Black fruit and slight floral nose. Plum and blueberry in the mouth, with floral and slight pepper notes. Plenty of wet stone and minerality. Fruit is more reserved than it was a few years ago. Nice right now.

My favorite wine from Jesse Skiles...so big and funky, great plum fruit, pepper and earth, with that "Rocks" funk!

Bottle #5 in the case, gave two away. This one the best so far; nicely floral, big fruit, big minerality, wonderful integration. Finish for days. "This wine tastes like a place". The Northern Rhone? Only off by a hemisphere. Fantastic with a rack of lamb. Will have one more this year, then sit on the other six for a while.

Floral nose. Big yet also subdued in the mouth: Blueberries and earth. Nicely balanced, nice acidity. Good match for a wide range of dishes, hamburgers to cassoulet. Would guess this a Cote du Rhone or Paso, not WW... yet it's somehow also very WW as well.

I really like VinLancster's note on this wine, I love this wines creamy mouthfeel, intense flavor and structure, and wonderfully long finish. Already surprisingly integrated and extremely compelling. Lots of minerality and earth to balance out the big fruit notes. Impeccably smooth. All of my family members loved this, all commenting on how soft and smooth it was. This is a very elegant expression of Washington Syrah, very well made.

Rich dark fruit and smokey background notes; a little reserved on the nose, but this is still a youngster, and will likely spread its wings by 2014/2015.

Mt Tabor Fine Wines 16th ANNUAL ANNIVERSARY PARTY (Mt Tabor Fine Wines) : Slightly floral on the nose. Amazing balance strikes right away in the mouth: fruit, acidity, mouthfeel all there. Blueberries, creme de violette. Very nice, the star of the show at the tasting.

Fausse Piste v. The World (@ Sauvage-Fausse Piste with StoryTeller Wine Company) (Portland, Oregon) : Austere and smoky aromatics fill the glass with light plum and true crushed rocks. The palate was ultra creamy, brambleberry, hints of rose petals, caramel and pure balance of acidity, minerality and a weighty mouth feel on the sleek-marathon finish. As young as this was, it was still difficult to put the glass down to try with the beef, chanterelles & creamy dumpling course; but …

Hard to score as it is so young. Aggressively New World with vibrant ripe red fruit flavors, attention-getting acidity and highly peppery finosh. There is a prominent streak of minerality. Very pleasing overall but not yet fully integrated. This has potential to be a remarkable wine in three to five years.

After-Hours (Fausse Piste Winery, Portland OR) : Very good stuff! Showing that funk common to vineyards in "The Rocks" area of Walla Walla AVA (Oregon). Sweet blackberry fruit, funk, mineral, solid integration, nice acidity, drinking very well right now, but could use another year or two. I'll sit on mine a bit more.

2012 Hospice du Rhone Grand Tastings; 4/27/2012-4/28/2012 (Hospice du Rhone, Paso Robles, California) : Very dark red violet color; lifted, roasted plum nose; roasted plum, baked black fruit palate; medium-plus finish