Betz Family Syrah La Serenne 2010 is made with 100 percent Syrah

David Schildknecht Of Parker's The Wine Advocate On Betz Family Syrah La Serenne 2010:

Originating in Boushey Vineyard, Betz’s 2010 Syrah La Serenne is scented with cassis and blackberry, sage and fennel. As it takes on air, a delightfully bitter-sweet, iris-like floral dimension emerges. Palpably dense and finely tannic, it displays a sense of constriction and firmness, although its dark berry flavors are very ripe and its herbal aspect expressively pungent. Saliva-inducing salinity, an invigorating bite of black pepper, and a note of tar complement tart-edged, juicy fruit and herbs in a finish more exuberantly energetic, expansive and engaging than this wine’s mid-palate presence had led me to anticipate. This should be a delight to follow over the next 6-8 years and I would advise simply leaving it untouched for the first couple as it works through a relatively reduced (and, metaphorically-speaking, tightly-wound) condition.

Like so many of Washington’s most influential and successful wine personalities, Bob Betz is a veteran of Ste Michelle, for whom he directed promotion and educational outreach, in the process earning an M.W. Betz and his wife, Cathy, commenced their own operation in 1997, committed to blending across a range of the state’s best vineyards, and they built an attendant facility in 2005. “Since 2005,” he noted as we toured historic Red Willow Vineyard with its owner-manager Mike Sauer, “things are pretty constant – same rows, same blocks” not only from Red Willow but from the other growers with whom Betz works. Betz exudes self-consciousness and meticulousness, and in traveling around viticultural Washington, one quickly realizes that his advice is eagerly sought by and generously accorded colleagues of all ages and levels of experience. In April of last year, the Washington wine world was shocked by the news that the Betzes had sold their winery to South Africans Steve and Bridgit Griessel, whose backgrounds are in marketing. The plan is apparently for things to otherwise go on as before, with Betz calling the shots in winemaking indefinitely. He works very closely with all of his suppliers; fruit is subjected to sophisticated and stringent sorting; and fermentation is by inoculation with a wide range of specialized yeasts – like other aspects of winery protocol guided, Betz is eager to make clear, by an experimental spirit and scientific rigor. “We’re fans of efficient fermentations,” he elucidates, “so 7-10 days on the skins, and we’ll often press before dryness. We like efficient malolactic, too, so lots of stirring and we keep the temperature at 68-70 F. until it’s done.” The wines from Rhone varietals are raised in close to half new barriques for 12 months – except for Chapitre 3, which, like the four months longer-matured wines from Bordelais varieties, sees two-thirds new wood; the balance of barrels are exclusively second year; and wines aren’t racked from barrel until bottling unless deemed to show signs that they are demanding it. The Betz Syrahs are typically released around their second birthdays, while the wines from Bordelais bottlings aren’t released until six months later. D.S. 92 Points

Steven Tanzer On Betz Family Syrah La Serenne 2010:

Bright nose features musky black raspberry, smoke, minerals, chocolate and a whiff of tar.  Bright, delineated and intense, conveying terrific acidity for syrah.  Proprietor Betz describes 2010 as "a return to structure in syrah" and this wine is also extremely primary, with tarry minerality and a cracked pepper quality adding nuance.  Finishes with firm but suave tannins, excellent grip and terrific peppery lift.  In texture, this wine is midway between Cote-Rotie and Saint-Joseph, and wonderfully fresh. Tanzer- 93 Points

Wine Maker Notes On Betz Family Syrah La Serenne 2010:

This 2010 vintage reflects its source with precision and clarity. That impenetrable black color of classic Boushey Syrah starts the journey down a very satisfying sensory pathway. Next comes the dominant aroma I always associate with Syrah from this site: smoky, candied blackberry, distinctive and seductive. That foundation gives way to notes of licorice (this is a cool site after all), iron, roasted earth and meat. Despite the cooler vintage conditions, there a full, rich, almost powerful overall impression: this is the velvet hammer, the gloved fist: plush, silky and yet jam packed with character. We clearly enjoy walking these rows together….