Two Mountain Winery Syrah Yakima Valley
Pairs with: Grilled rosemary lamb chops, smoked beef brisket slathered in a dark berry barbecue sauce, wood-fired wild mushroom and goat cheese pizza, pan-seared duck breast with a pomegranate reduction, or a rustic charcuterie board loaded with peppery salami and aged white cheddar.
Good for: Introducing fans of cool-climate French Northern Rhône Syrah to the vibrant power of Washington State; stocking up on a highly dependable, certified sustainable estate red that punches way above its price point; or anchoring an outdoor patio barbecue with a savory wine that effortlessly handles smoke and spice.
Grape: 100% Syrah.
I am from: Yakima Valley, Columbia Valley, Washington, USA (100% estate-grown from the family's sustainably farmed plots, primarily Copeland Vineyard, tucked within the sun-drenched, high-altitude slopes of the Rattlesnake Hills).
The Story: Operated by the fourth-generation Rawn brothers (Matthew and Patrick), Two Mountain Winery proudly embraces a profound, dirt-under-the-fingernails farming legacy that first began when their grandfather Phil Schmidt established the family's homestead orchards back in 1951. Decades later, the family transitioned the land into premium vineyards, making history by becoming the very first vineyard in Washington State to achieve the strict, certified sustainable stamp under the Rules for Sustainable Winegrowing. Nestled in a dramatic natural climate engine, the estate benefits from a magnificent rain-shadow effect cast by the Cascade Mountain Range, experiencing intense, arid daytime sun that fully develops the Syrah grape's deep color and plush sugars, contrasted by bone-chilling desert nights that lock in a piercing, vital freshness. In the cellar, the brothers practice a meticulous, non-interventionist protocol—utilizing gentle, small-lot fermentations and aging the juice in French oak barrels to naturally round out the grape's muscular structure while ensuring the pure, wild, and desert-herbed identity of the Yakima Valley arrives in your glass completely uncompromised.
Why You'll Love Me: It is phenomenally bright, deeply savory, and beautifully texturized—a medium-to-full-bodied red that masterfully trades simple, heavy-handed sweet extraction for a highly focused, agile, and athletic structural frame. In the glass, it pours a deep, concentrated ruby-purple color with vibrant violet outlines shimmering near the rim. The nose is a spectacularly expressive and atmospheric playground, instantly launching into an alluring bouquet of silky black fruits, wild blueberries, and fresh pomegranates, seamlessly layered with complex undertones of fresh lavender, wet tobacco leaf, cedarwood, and a distinct, peppery puff of cracked black pepper and crushed gravel. On the palate, it delivers a gorgeous, multi-dimensional structural ride; it greets you with a broad, velvety mid-palate density packed with flavors of bramble fruit, currant, and a surprising, refreshing hint of wild mint. Yet, it never defaults to a flabby or syrupy weight, as a driving beam of crisp Washington acidity and fine-grained, pliant tannins cuts right through the richness, carrying the wine into a long, beautifully dry finish highlighted by a trailing touch of cocoa dust, savory herbs, and a clean, stone-dust snap.
