This wine is unabashedly juicy and toasty, with soft tannin and mouth-filling fruit. Baking spices, blackberry pie... Yep, it's all there.
Prime drinking: now through 2022.
Food pairing: Seared meats and rich pasta dishes.
Winemaking
Grapes were picked in the darkness of the early morning hours, and immediately subjected to rigorous hand sorting and refinement process. The whole berries were gently delivered to tank. Cold soaks lasted five to seven days, and fermentations were managed via a combination of delestage and pumpovers. Extended maceration ranging from three to four weeks fine-tuned our tannin profiles, allowing us to perfect mouth feel and wine complexity. The wine was aged 30 months in 100% French oak, 25% of which was new.
Analysis
Appellation: Alexander Valley, Sonoma County
Varietals: 100% Syrah
Aging: 30 Months in 100% French Oak, 25% New
pH: 3.73 | TA: 6.4 g/L
Alcohol: 14.5%
98 Points, Best of Class
Super-Tuscan style blend offering aromas of ripe berries and black fruits, interwoven with hints of vanilla, caramel, raw tobacco, leather, clove, blood orange peel, and roasted walnuts. Rich and generous flavors of briary blackberry, dark cherry, ripe plum and cassis.
Modern, Sexy & Full
Aromas of wild blackberries and blueberries interwoven with enchanting notes of fresh mint, lavender, roasted walnut, savory spices, and a captivating hint of dark chocolate drizzled with fine balsamic. Notes of plum, blueberry and cassis with hints of wild sage, licorice, black pepper, and an elegant touch of fine-grained oak.
Plush & Velvety
Aromas of wild berries are interlaced with nuances of fresh lavender, dark chocolate truffle, baking spices, and cigar box, with generous flavors of ripe blackberry, blueberry, dark cherry and fresh currants are layered with hints of cocoa, cassis, allspice, and wild sage.