K Vintners 'M.C.K. Motor City Kitty' Syrah 2020
(Yakima Valley, Washington) - [JS 98, #31 Top 100 of 2023] [VM 96+] [WA 95+] [WE 94] [JD 93]

Notes from the Winemaker:

M.C.K., aka Motor City Kitty, is one of our oldest wines, a call-back to our very beginnings when Charles was just starting out in Walla Walla.

The 2020 vintage might be the best vintage that we have ever had in Washington state history. We had an incredible growing season that was long and temperate, allowing the fruit to ripen evenly. The wines are focused, rich, complex, and lively. The reds are restrained and elegant, yet powerful with incredible tension and balance. Our white and rosé wines are wonderfully rich on the palate but balanced with enough acid to make the wines complete. We are excited to see how these wines evolve!

Tasting Notes:

All-encompassing. Dense, rich, action packed. Explosive dark cherry, huckleberry, black olive. Ash, grilled herb, wet earth. Great intensity, taut and balanced. This has it all and more!

Vineyard:
Oldfield-Boushey Vineyard (100%)
Owned by Dick Boushey, one of the premier vineyard owners in Washington State. This vineyard was planted by Dick with the help of Brennon Leighton. This is the highest elevation plot and has a southwestern slope and sandy volcanic soils. Three clones of Syrah are planted on this site: 383, 174, and Joseph Phelps.

98 Points, #31 Top 100 of 2023 - James Suckling:
"This is a serious and intense syrah. Complex notes of chocolate, blackberries, black cherries, cedar and nutmeg here, with cracked pepper, rosemary and dried lavender. Evolving. Firm, tight and compact, with a full body. Beautiful freshness, too. More structure here. Try from 2025." (Mar 023)

96+ Points - Vinous Media:
"Dark and viral in the glass with savory exotic spices, crushed ashen stones, grilled sage and smoked meats, the 2020 Syrah Motor City Kitty (MCK) makes a big first impression. This is texturally deep with a wave of mineral-tinged black fruits "accelerated by sour citrus, as sweet herbal tones form toward the close. The 2020 tapers off with a potent concentration of wild berries and smoky earth, as gently grippy tannins tug at the palate. There's simply so much going on here, and so much more to come through cellaring." - Eric Guido (Mar 2023)

95+ Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate:
"Floral, focused and mineral-driven, the 2020 MCK Syrah offers dark red fruits with delightful red and pink peppercorn notes. Full-bodied and with 15% alcohol, the palate firms up with gripping tannins to reveal a rich mineral tension that lingers on the long, boozy finish. The MCK Syrah will remain a powerhouse and please New World Syrah lovers around the globe." - AM (May 2023)

94 Points - Wine Enthusiast:
"The motor on this city kitty purrs, as bushels of black cherry and boysenberry fruit flavors are backed by a massive wall of tannins. As you swirl your glass to loosen things up, aromas of blackberries, black olives and bacon fat encircle your head. The fruit party on the palate is joined by bittersweet dark chocolate and saline. Enjoy now until 2032. Meow." - MA (Oct 2023)

93 Points - Jeb Dunnuck:
"Coming all from the Boushey Vineyard on the western side of the Yakima Valley, the 2020 Syrah Motor City Kitty boasts a deep ruby/plum hue as well as a great perfume of smoky red and black fruits, gravelly earth, and pepper. A more masculine-styled Syrah that’s medium to full-bodied, structured, and balanced, give it a few years and enjoy over the following decade. Drink 2025-2035." (Jun 2023)