Greg Wacks is a seasoned TV Producer in New York (having spent over a decade at VHI), a Certified Sommelier and a Director at the Organic Wine Journal. An excerpt from his site reads, “Shooting in the everglades with the former lead singer of Skid Row, watching him almost lose his leg to a hungry alligator was when I realized my talent really does trust me.”

He recently tried our Passport for the first time and this was his response:

“Lately, all anyone wants to talk about when drinking a glass of wine is “Terroir.”  You’ll hear people in wine bars, restaurants, retail stores and all over the blog world talking about it but really, does anyone truly know what it means?  At it’s core, it’s a word that comes to represent the place where a certain wine is made.  When people speak of a wine having “wonderful terroir” it generally means that the wine is a great representation of the place where it came from.  From a highly acidic German Reisling with great minerality and richness to a full throttle Aussie fruit and oak bomb, it’s a wonderful thing when you open a bottle and immediately sense where it came from.

When I recently opened the 2006 Passport from Senoj Estates, I thought for sure I had stumbled upon an impostor of a wine with no real sense of terroir.  From the deep ruby color in the glass to the notes of oak, menthol, and heat on the nose, I was convinced that this jumble of flavors would be neither here nor there.  Even reading the label I noted that the wine has “roots in Bordeaux” but is made from Washington State fruit.  After the first sip, I was thrilled to be proven wrong.

The Passport was not only indicative of true Washington State terroir, it proved to me again that Washington is churning out some of the most exciting wines in the US right now.  While the firm tannic structure and well-balanced fruit reminded me of a handful of left bank Bordeaux wines, the wonderful acidity and copious amounts of oak made me realize that I was drinking something that came from a northern growing region in a country that pioneered the use of oak as a means of expressing the phrase “UMPH” in a glass.

Be warned, however, this wine is not for the faint of heart.  It is a very big and bold expression of terroir and can stand up to just about any food that attempts to cross it’s path.  In short, it’s a winter wine that will be well served with a hearty stew or big cut of meat.

While the Passport may take you to Bordeaux and back, I’d be perfectly happy never leaving my house, knowing that a few bottles of this juice are laying down in my wine fridge.”

Thanks Greg for sharing your thoughts!

Check out what Elliot Essman from stylegourmet.com has to say about our 2007 Syrah. Elliot is a NY-based wine and food writer, and he has the distinction of being a James Beard Award Nominee. He is also the author of an upcoming book entitled, “Use Wine to Make Sense of This World”.

He writes, “Washington State crops up in my wine consciousness with great regularity. I usually find these crops worth harvesting. In the case of Senoj, the winery was named after its founder Jeff Jones: Senoj is the backward spelling of Jones. I like it. It has a better ring to it than “Namsse.” Jeff started as a full-time techie in Redmond, that is, western Washington, all the while spending several years of weekends learning the wine trade in eastern Washington. Yes, he is a maverick. He makes a Syrah (not this) with a blend of Carmenere, is about to put out a Primitivo (not a Zinfandel, we must stress), and has yet another Syrah that comes to life using only ambient yeast. Further horizons call for experimentation with Malbec.

The Senoj tasting room is in the well-known warehouse district of Woodinville, in wet western Washington, but like most Woodinville wineries, the fruit comes from the arid irrigated eastern part of the state. Jones (that’s Senoj spelled backwards) cellars the wines in Grandview in eastern Washington. The winery is small, producing just under 5,000 cases a year. The focus is mellow and food friendly and the major market seems to be male millennials.

Senoj Estates 2007 Syrah is 4% Viognier co-fermented with 96% Syrah, a product of grapes grown in South Eastern Washington’s Coyote Canyon Vineyard, located in the Horse Heaven Hills AVA. The $22 wine is quite dark in color, with a pronounced nose giving dark fruit, blackberry, black plum, violet, nutmeg, vanilla and black pepper. This is a dry wine, medium plus body, mid-level acidity, nicely rounded tannins, with flavors of brambly blackberry, dried fruit, licorice and a touch of apricot. The mouthfeel has the bright quality I often associate with the Syrah and Viognier mixture; you get this in many Australian wines and of course in the classic French Côte Rôtie from the Rhône River Valley. Drinks very well and melded seamlessly with London broil. Verdict: Tasty.

Write For Wine has written about the Primitivo and 100% Viognier in a recent post. They also mentioned being fans of the Passport.

They write, “Be sure to head to Senoj Estates in November for the release of 2007 Primitivo – we had a pre-release bottle last night and wow, we will definitely go back to Woodinville for more. Primitivo is the genetic twin of Zinfindel, and it’s becoming more and more popular in Washington state. And Senoj winemaker Jeff Jones has made the best bottle that we have tasted so far.

Perhaps it’s because 4% Cabernet Sauvignon was used to shore up the back end of the 96% Primitivo. Or maybe because Jones (whose name spelled backward is Senoj) uses a subtle style to create wines that pair very well with food. (Dave made his delicious spaghetti to pair with Senoj Primitivo last night.)

The winery’s tasting notes describe it best: From Coyote Canyon Vineyard in the Horse Heaven Hills AVA, our Primitivo is a bold and boisterous wine, loud and proud. The Primitivo provides blackberry and pepper highlights on the nose, while a small amount of Cabernet Sauvignon gives rise to a smooth middle palate and tasteful tannic finish. This wine is deep, drinkable, and delicious.

We’ve always been fans of Senoj’s medium-bodied Passport, which is a right-bank-influenced Bordeaux-style blend — 70% Merlot blended with Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Petite Verdot. Senoj also recently released a 2008 Viognier that has a rounded mouthfeel; and a Carmeniere, a close cousin to Merlot, will be available in 2010.