Heady with perfume and intrigue. Impossible to ignore. Black raspberry, black pepper, vinous notes, steak au poivre and lingonberry sauce. Black minerals. Soy sauce, Gaviota strawberry, violet candies, lavender and rosemary. One could easily write tasting notes on this wine all day. Lifted and spiraling out of the glass. Weightless and seamless but also packs a punch with impossibly fine-grained tannins. Black, red and green in profile. Changes every second in the glass. The essence and nectar of syrah with nothing interfering with its expression. True cold climate syrah from Sta Rita Hills. Fine and dusty with a wonderful resinous streak that screams out for a charcuterie board and some aged goat cheeses. Exceptional drinking today.
Matt Dees, Winemaker
Varietal:
Syrah
Vineyard:
73% Radian Vineyard (cl. 470, Alban PB), 27% Bentrock Vineyard (cl. 470)
Appellation:
Sta Rita Hills
Ageing:
12 months in 95% neutral French oak, 5% new French oak, then 4 months in stainless tank.
Alcohol:
13%
Case Production:
453
All things in winegrowing are cyclical and interlinked between vintages. A cold and cloudy spring in 2023 that caused the buds to not receive very much sunlight gave us shoots with very little fruit in 2024. Difficult cool conditions during flowering further diminished our yields resulting in a reduction from 2023 yields that often topped 40%. This caused incredible concentration throughout the fruit in our vineyards. A few warm spells in early September helped to even out the clusters on each vine and helped slowly push the grapes towards ripeness. A slow maturation allowed the development of incredible flavors while maintaining exceptional freshness. The resulting wines are absolutely concentrated and pure expressions of our Estate vineyards. They are thrilling.
Matt Dees, Winemaker
Matt Dees, Winemaker
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