Release Letter:
Picked the same day as Rosella’s Syrah, September 30th, our approach with this wine was somewhat similar. Twenty-five percent whole cluster. Nineteen days on the skins. Where our approach differed, however, was in our decision to inoculate. Also, since this wine was a touch riper than Rosella’s, we opted for less oak (14% new French oak to be exact) to let the fruit shine. Bottled unfined and unfiltered.

Tasting Note: This vineyard lives down the road, just south of its older sibling, Rosella’s, but exhibits the feral and rustic qualities imparted by elevation, thin soil, and a warmer microclimate. The wine introduces itself with hard candy, violets, ruby red grapefruit and lavender on the nose. The pluot and cassis characters on the palate yield to a bacon fat quality that is strongly reminiscent of the “Honey-Lavender Bacon” from our local butcher (good stuff!). Fine-grained tannins on the finish, but this is a wine of depth and intensity that could find its true “happy spot” with some proper cellaring.

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