Winery - McCrea Cellars
* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
This 100% Syrah’s berry flavors are wrapped in spice and some earthy, composty notes, further enhanced with 20% new oak, adding in licorice and espresso. The tannins are balanced but substantial, giving the wine a sense of weight and putting a firm foundation under the fruit.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
With the extra bottle age, this newest release of McCrea’s Boushey/Ciel blend is powerful, but approachable. The black and blue fruit flavors are pure and spiced with something almost minty; the body of the wine is textural and veined with rock, lead pencil and coffee. This wine has the muscle and concentration to go another decade in the cellar.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Small berries with thick skins give this wine concentration and tannin, making some extra time in bottle mandatory. It’s still tight, and the layers of graphite and earth complement without concealing the lighter floral aromas and pretty, wild berry fruit. It rolls into a complex finish with black fruits, cola, licorice and baking chocolate, all lightly applied and in perfect proportion.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Always among the very best of the McCrea Syrahs, the 2005 Boushey Grande Côte brings blue fruits, composted earth, unfunky leather, cedar bark, smoked meats and more into play. It’s simply one of the most complex Syrahs made anywhere in Washington, from a grand cru site that is absolutely made for the grape. As with the 2004, the flavor notes just keep on coming—cured ham, black truffle, charcoal, pencil lead, toasted nuts. Wow.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Pure Roussanne; plump and spicy, with beguiling accents of cinnamon around rich fruit. Orange, tangerine and apricot fruits are in full display, the wine is round and luscious and the finish quite full and satisfying.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Small amounts of Mourvèdre, Syrah, Counoise and Cinsault add complexity to this excellent Grenache, grown at the Ciel du Cheval vineyard on Red Mountain. Supple and aromatic, it expresses itself with ripe, sweet strawberry and black cherry fruit, whiffs of pepper and pencil lead, and a full-bodied midpalate that continues cleanly through a lingering finish.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Though varietally labeled, this intriguing white Rhône includes 12% each Marsanne and Grenache Blanc. Rich and satisfying, it brings the buttery density of a ripe Chardonnay, but mixes the fruits for more drama—cantaloupe, apricot, banana, and a bit of papaya. A total yum-fest.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
McCrea’s fifth varietal bottling of Mourvèdre is a blend of fruit from opposite ends of the Yakima valley AVA. Velvety and loaded with red fruits, this appealing wine also carries a hint of smoke and non-funky leather.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Big and juicy, this full throttle Grenache screams across the palate with a load of spicy cherry, brambly berry, and bourbon-soaked plum flavors. Tannins are toasty and the finish leaves a pleasingly bitter coffee impression.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Lots of wood on the nose, and some scents of pickle that reflect the American oak barrels. The flavors follow along, spicy cranberry and raspberry fruit, with streaks of pickle and wood and a burst of alcoholic heat in the finish. The blend includes 17% Mourvèdre.
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