FOR BRUCE
DIONYSTIC was born in 2015 with this wine. Syrah is one of the most promising red grapes in the Willamette Valley. I first became aware of Syrah in the Willamette Valley while working my very first harvest in 2006 for Bruce & Brad Biehl (The Bad Biehl Brothers). The Syrah and other experimental grapes had just been planted in the vineyard by Bruce and his team at the request of the vineyard owner. Sometimes when everyone is going in the same direction, it is time to change course. This wine is ‘For Bruce’.
For Bruce
2015
Fermented partially whole cluster, this wine has all of the volatile notes that some Syrah lovers enjoy. This wine is the first release from the DIONYSTIC family of wines and we are honored to also join a small club of producers who are working with Syrah in the Willamette Valley. Our future is bright.
“I'm sure many will be reminded of places like Cornas or St. Joseph, but this is something Oregon should be proud to call its own.”
- Michael Alberty, Wine Writer, August 2016
2018
Our most elegant Syrah to date. This co-fermentation of 90% Syrah and 10% Viognier is a field of roses in the bottle. This has all the power and grace that you would expect from a cool climate Syrah. This wine is still so young.
”The 2018 Syrah “For Bruce” includes five percent Viognier in the blend, with the two grapes co-fermented. The wine is named for a long-time vineyard manager in Oregon, Bruce Biehl, who was pushing vineyard owners to see beyond pinot noir when planting new vineyards back in the 1990s. These grapes hail from one of those vineyards on the northern fringe of the Willamette Valley, where the owner took Bruce’s advice. The wine is co-fermented with indigenous yeasts and aged in older casks for eight months, prior to bottling unfined and unfiltered. It comes in at 14.1 percent octane in 2018 and offers up a fine, youthful nose of cassis, black olive, pepper, grilled meats, dark soil tones and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and tightly-knit, with excellent focus and grip, tangy acids, a fine core of fruit and very good soil signature on the long, ripely tannic and very promising finish. This is an excellent bottle of young syrah- just add a modicum of patience to the recipe and let it blossom properly with bottle age! 2028-2060. 92+”
-View from the Cellar #90 Nov-Dec 2020 (John Gilman)
2019
One of the most aromatically explosive wines we have made. Black cherry, violets, game, iron, and blood oranges. This wine is still so wound-up and requires more bottle aging before we release it. Expect this sometime in the Spring of 2021.
2020
Still in barrel. This one is another strong example of why Syrah is one of the great red grapes in the Willamette Valley. Many consider this a terrible vintage, due to the fires. But, our vineyards were spared and the fruit and resulting wine are phenomenal. We are excited to release this to you one day.