Syrah

When Steve mentioned that he had this nice little planting of Syrah coming in soon, Dan jumped at the chance to make a small lot of wine from it. Located next to our Maurice Galante Vineyard on Cherry Ridge Road in Sebastopol, the vineyard is situated on the east-facing slope that forms the western edge of the Green Valley. The proverbial "warm spot in a cold area", Cherry Ridge is just temperate enough to ripen Syrah in a region best known for the cold-loving Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Syrah from this climate shows focused berry fruit, bright acidity, intense color and silky tannins. Just two acres are planted here to clone 877 Syrah.

2000 was the first harvest from this vineyard, and since then, additional plantings have been added to the site, so look for increased production of this luscious wine as the years go on. As with our Pinots, our Syrah is fermented in small open top fermenters and punched down by hand. We do a pre-fermentation cold soak to silken the mouthfeel and brighten the fruit. After fermentation the wine is racked into French oak to age. During its 19 months of barrel aging, the wine is racked several times for flavor and structure development as well as to hone the barrel choices for each particular stage of its life.