Tasting Notes
Maturing in four barrels, each of different oak, this wine has developed into a "serious" Syrah. Each of the barrels has easily identifiable differences which combined beautifully in the final product. While the flavor in each barrel is delicious, each is unique. The tannins vary as well, being very pronounced in one barrel and less so in the other three.The color and nose of each barrel add further diversity . The structure and complexity of this wine has continued to develop. The final blending of the four lots into our finished wine in December, 2004 produced a wine that, while easy to drink, is complex and enchanting. Bottled the last week in January, 2005, the release date was March 1st. While wonderfully drinkable now, a few years in the bottle should add additional elegance.
Winemaking Notes
Approximately 2.73 acres are planted in this varietal as a single block in an East/West orientation gently sloping from North to South. The entire block is planted in a single clone, Syrah Noir, with 2250 vines on 420A rootstock. Although cool at night, this block gets early morning sun that lasts until dusk and is the warmest of the blocks. The growing season of 2003 was excellent for this varietal. Shatter was very limited, and although we dropped a great deal of fruit from these young vines, we were able to harvest 2.43 tons on October 11th.
Technical Data:
| Alcohol: | 14.2% | | Total Acidity: | 5.34 g/l | | pH: | 3.85 | | Residual Sugar: | 0.5 g/l | | Composition/Blend: | Estate Grown Syrah Noir | | Appellation: | Sonoma Mountain | | Fermentation: | Indigenous yeast | | Barrels: | 4 (2 Neutral, 1 medium toast, 1 medium dark toast | | Vineyard: | Silver Pines Vineyards | | Soil Type: | complex volcanic/clay | | Cases Produced: | 125 |
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