Didn’t get a photo of the 2011 Boom Boom! showing the bottle or the fantastic spread of food (a consistent theme all weekend) that accompanied this wine, but suffice it to say children and adults alike had plenty to eat.  This Syrah too was a recent favorite and earned a second showing among our lake friends this weekend, following closely on the heels of the 2011 Petite Petit, and it received similar praise from the gathered company.

2011 Boom Boom! Syrah, Charles Smith, Columbia Valley, Washington, USA.

The Boom Boom! Syrah is a Columbia Valley wine, the largest in Washington State and covering an area of nearly 11 million acres. Now that is a lot of grapes (and I hear their vine rows are often more spread out there than in other regions around the grape-growing world).  Several smaller pockets–Yakima Valley, Walla Walla, and others–are encompassed in this great region for winemaking, where Charles Smith Wines makes its living.

We poured this dark beauty into a plastic “lake glass” and passed it around, swirling its deep purples and sipping contentedly with the onset of the evening. It’s not just the grape itself that intrigues here, but a little something spicy that lingers in the background. It’s there for sure, but I’m not savvy enough a taster to identify its specific details for you.

Syrah is sent to us once or twice yearly as part of a recurring wine club shipment, and we always enjoy it on those occasions…but the 2011 Boom Boom! from Charles Smith is the only Syrah I’ve gone out of my way to purchase. There’s an obvious “boom” quip waiting in the wings here but you’ll have to taste it for yourself to get it.