Monument Wines Lantern Syrah 2023
We have 10 in stock (Inventory is live and accurate)
The Land
Oregon is Pinot Noir country in most people's minds, but some of the state's most interesting Syrah grows at its edges, where the Willamette Valley's rain gives way to sun. Monument has worked those edges for years, drawing Syrah from the Columbia Gorge and from the Layne Vineyard in the Applegate Valley in southern Oregon. The Columbia Gorge AVA, established in 2004, runs about 40 miles along the river, shifting from maritime to continental in that short distance. Rainfall falls from roughly 36 inches a year in the west to under 10 in the east, and vineyards sit on basalt, volcanic and lahar soils, loess and flood-deposited cobbles, from near river level to about 2,000 feet. Warm days and wind-cooled nights there give Syrah ripe fruit without losing its peppery, savory side.
The Wine
Monument Wines Lantern Syrah 2023 is a single-variety red from a producer with a Syrah track record that goes back to the 2019 Permanent Piece from Layne Vineyard. Monument's cellar rules are short: fruit bought from growers who farm without pesticides, fermentation with wild yeasts only, and sulfur as the sole addition, used to keep the wine stable through travel and aging. Bottles are sealed under Diam. Expect Syrah from the cooler school rather than the jammy one: blackberry and blue plum, cracked black pepper, olive and smoked meat, with medium body, fresh acidity and fine-grained tannin. A short decant or a slight chill to cellar temperature brings the savory side forward.
The People
Monument is a négociant project working out of a shared warehouse in Portland's Sellwood neighborhood, where Tyler Magyar splits space, a forklift and grape-processing equipment with Flat Brim and Fausse Piste. That arrangement is typical of the city's urban-winery scene: small producers buying fruit by the ton from growers across the state and making it in town. Magyar came up through retail, selling wine for years in New York and Portland before making his own, and that background shows in his priorities. He wants wines people will open on a Tuesday, made without shortcuts or added flourish, and he names his growers' farming safety as a reason he insists on pesticide-free fruit. His guiding word for the project is sincerity.
Food Pairing
Syrah's pepper and savory edge want char and fat. Try lamb kofta grilled over high heat with tzatziki and warm flatbread; the tannin handles the fat while the herbs echo the olive. Smoked pork shoulder with a vinegar-based Carolina sauce lets the acidity cut through the bark. A black bean and chorizo chili with cumin and ancho matches the wine's dark fruit, and a mushroom and lentil shepherd's pie works for a meatless night. This is the bottle for the first cold weekend when the grill comes back out for one more round.
We ship wine to most states with a $100 minimum order for shipping. We don't ship spirits nor beer.
Weather shipping advisory: Orders placed during times of extreme heat or extreme cold will be held for no charge until more favorable weather returns.
Syrah is a dark-skinned grape of French origin, specifically from the Northern Rhône Valley, where it produces some of the world's most powerful and complex wines. Known as Shiraz in Australia, Syrah is capable of displaying a wide range of aromas and flavors. Cool climate Syrahs tend to express floral notes like violets, along with savory elements like olives, while those grown in warmer climates like Australia are more likely to show black pepper and dark fruit notes such as plum. The grape's versatility allows it to adapt to various climates and soil types, but it maintains its unique characteristics no matter where it is planted.
