Charles Smith (K Vintners), Rock Garden Syrah, Walla Walla Valley

dark and brooding - with fig and blackberry notes - nothing shy about this wine - but well structured.

2013 vintage

Day 1: Light in nature with smoked meats, tar, pepper and floral notes. Dimple wine and not as good as the last bottle. 87 points Day 2: Well my note that said will improve over time is wrong. K Vintners has fallen off the radar and is not very good wine at all. Made some crap smoke tainted 2020s and lost all respect. This wine is even worse on day 2. Celery, water, pepper, crushed flowers, smoke and dust. Some …

2019 vintage

Tasted after 1 hour of air. Some nice restrained smoky meat notes. Blackberries. Dusty tannins. Nice balance.

2019 vintage

Lovely nose, medium full body with a medium long finish. Went well with garlicky lamb chops. May be at peak drinking.

2019 vintage

Sublime. Held up really well with Smojed Prime Rib.

2019 vintage

initially has pepper, olive notes with noticeable tannins. With air, tannins recede and beautiful lavender and violet elements arise.

2019 vintage

Pomegranate, a�a�, lavender, char siu, pork shoulder, olive tapenade and river rock. Medium to full body, with a plush middle and welcomed grip on the back end. An echoing, long finish and silky tannins, with a slight chalky element. Juicy to the core and has a great backbone. Drink now - 2033.

2019 vintage

Pomegranate, açaí, lavender, char siu, pork shoulder, olive tapenade and river rock. Medium to full body, with a plush middle and welcomed grip on the back end. An echoing, long finish and silky tannins, with a slight chalky element. Juicy to the core and has a great backbone. Drink now - 2033.

2019 vintage

Very good

2019 vintage

Tasted after 20 minutes of air. This is really starting to open up. Briny olives. Firm tannins. Nice balance. Full power.

2019 vintage

14.5% ABV.

2019 vintage

Extremely young and will improve over time. Stone, earth, spice, minerals, pepper and rose petals. Medium finish. Drink after 2025. 91+

2019 vintage

Again, have not had any luck with this wine. It was not good with several tasters that all had the same comments. I have to assume that WS got paid off or it was a bait and switch, no other way to explain it.

2013 vintage

Double decant. Red fruits. Peppery. Meaty. Long sexy finish. Great stuff!

2019 vintage

The best Washington Syrah we have had. Great terrior, as the "dirtiness" of the Rocks District fully comes through in this wine. We will be ordering more!

2019 vintage

Best bottle out of the 3 I got from auction. First was corked, 2nd was very meh, and this one was slightly above meh. At least I got a bit of the Rocks Funk, but it seems like it's overly sweet and stewed. Guessing heat damage, likely all 3 of them, as they were from the same source. Really wish people would stop pawning off their mistreated wine to auction sites! Flavors of stewed blackberry fruit, fig, some funk, and …

2013 vintage

2nd bottle out of 3 from an auction purchase. Definitely better than the first (corked) bottle, but not what I've come to expect from Rock Garden Syrah. Definitely muted in flavor from more recent vintages. More salinity as well. Flavors of fig, caramelized sugar, blackberry and an saline stand out the most. Hoping the last bottle of the 3 is the exception to this bunch. Drink now - 2023.

2013 vintage

Auction purchase. First one (out of 3) I pulled out, and it's corked!

2013 vintage

Crushed roses and red fruit, a whiff of funk on the nose, lovely to drink. Mid weight and interesting/tasty, if not a paragon of its varietal. Definitely new world syrah, but not jammy.

2013 vintage

I cant tell if this is flawed or in a really bad place right now. If its not flawed then sorry to say that this is almost undrinkable. I have 5 more bottles, if the next one is as bad as this then I will use the rest for very expensive cooking wine.

2013 vintage

Have to admit, disappointed. No "funk", way soft, wondering if in "dumb" phase, but expected way, way, way more

2013 vintage

For a Rocks Region syrah it does not have the funk on the nose. Pretty closed up. On initial pnp the flavor was like a disjointed off tasting funk. However, given about 10 to 15 minutes most of this blew off and settled down and the palate was nice. An easy drinking soft funk syrah.

2013 vintage

Interesting rocks region syrah. Kind of a rocks lite. Nice easy drinking with just a hint of funk and rocks on the nose and palate. Still enjoyable to drink.

2013 vintage

Black pepper, stone, blueberries, minerals and funk. Medium to long finish. Excellent and drink now.

2013 vintage

This was not our favorite Syrah. We had it one other time and really enjoyed it.

2013 vintage

Rich blackberry, lots of spice, earth, and acid...but a balanced typical syrah acid making for a food friendly tasty wine.

2013 vintage

Much more transparency than typical Syrah. Purple rusty colour. Nose of black fruit. Black plum cooked Blueberry and cola, pepper umami beef, and violet. Long stable finish, med-dry and mid-high acidity.

2013 vintage

Smells of strawberries and caramel, herbs and flowers. There's a savory seared meat note subtly floating around too. The fruit is darker on the palate, more blackberry or boysenberry-like, with vanilla and notes of light char. Rich and mouth-coating with resolved, velvety tannins. 13s out of WA State are drinking great right now. Only wish I had more than one....

2013 vintage

Pnp at a restaurant. Nice soft rocks funk nose. The palate was a bit thin out of the bottle. Took some time but picked up a bit of weight as it sat. Would decant for about an hour to get the best out of this wine at this stage.

2013 vintage

Wonderful wine had with cheeseburger gnocchi’s. Happy anniversary!!!

2013 vintage

Corked!

2013 vintage

Bright blueberry and dark cherry notes dominate the flavor profile with Asian spice and black pepper notes. Smooth, velvety tannins are rounded out with a subtle tangy finish.

2013 vintage

Too tart for my preferences.

2013 vintage

Not a big in your face Syrah, maybe a little more elegant and soft. Still a very good effort, which is usually the case from Mr Smith.

2013 vintage

Syrah typicity on the nose with a good perfume but not intoxicating. Notes of dark fruit with some wood coming through perhaps from clusters with notes of black tea and a light rust. The wine has medium body with lifted acidity and light finish. It's not your Syrah powerhouse from Cali but instead a more subtle, apparently cooler climate, Northern Rhone style.

2013 vintage

From Coravin. Light ruby color with some transparency and bricking on the edge. Brambly fruit with lots of twigs, so I can see the 100% whole cluster fermentation. Palate is on the lighter side of Syrah with dark fruits, some tobacco, and dried wood. Light to medium tannins and finish. Lacking some concentration in a more subtle woodsy style of Syrah. 90-93

2013 vintage

Wonderful. Beautiful finish and aroma. Had cheeseburger gnocchi with bacon

2013 vintage

Light ruby. Lots of red fruits, florals, hard candy, white pepper. Did not get the game, bloody, savory syrah notes. Drinks closer to a coastal cool climate syrah. Med - body, med + acid, thin, one dimensional. Drinks nicely w/ food. Nothing else overly interesting.

2013 vintage

Are you sure?

Charles Smith (K Vintners), Rock Garden Syrah, Walla Walla Valley

Vintages

No vintages

Community Reviews