Lay of the Lamb 2024

AVA: Columbia Valley

Vineyards: RKP, Freewater Rocks, Stoneridge

Varietal Percentages: 49% Syrah, 27% Mourvèdre, 24% Grenache

Alcohol: 14.5%

Cases Produced: 173

 

Production Notes: 61% of the fruit was destemmed into 2-ton, open-top stainless-steel fermenters. The remaining 39% was retained as whole clusters. The fruit was foot-tread with maximum berry breakage to minimize carbonic maceration. The must completed fermentation without inoculation. Punchdowns occurred twice per day with occasional pumpovers, as needed.  Pressing occurred at dryness. After 1 week settling in tank, the wine was racked to a mix of 500 L French oak puncheons and 225 L French oak barriques. (9% new). The wine rested for 12 months before being racked to tank, blended, and returned to barrel for an additional 6 months of aging. No fining or filtration.

 

Winemakers’s Notes: The time-tested cameraderie between Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre is once again affirmed here. Equal parts fruity, earthy, and savory, this wine is sure to please the palates of the novice and the connoisseur alike! 

 

While the fruit for the 2023 iteration of this wine was sourced entirely from the Walla Walla Valley, the 2024 brings in the nervy tension and bright red-fruited character that is a hallmark of reds grown in Washington’s Rattlesnake Hills AVA. 2024 marked Strata Varia’s first year sourcing fruit from RKP Vineyard, a relatively new planting located within a stone’s throw of the Rattlesnake Hills’ famed Elephant Mountain Vineyard. With the addition of Syrah sourced from Stoneridge Vineyard in the Royal Slope and Freewater Rocks Vineyard in the Rocks District of Milton-Freewater, the 2024 Lay of the Lamb is a stunning cross-section of the most exciting Rhone growing regions in Washington State!

 

-Brent Roberts, Winemaker