2009 Syrah, Wildcat Mountian

Price: $34.00
Qty.  

ORIGIN:  The grapes for our last Syrah came exclusively from our Wildcat Mountain Vineyard, owned by Steve MacRostie and his partners Nancy and Tony Lilly. Here the vines dig into the sparse volcanic soil and stand firm against the strong winds that race in off of the Pacific Ocean most afternoons. This fog-shrouded mountaintop vineyard is a classic Sonoma Coast site, cool and challenging, and produces wines of great distinction.

VINEYARD NOTES:  The 2009 growing season, which followed another drier than normal winter, was long and relatively cool.  Things moved slowly all summer long, and we were able to pick—later than usual—based on flavors rather than sugar.  Yields were customarily low at Wildcat, just a little over four tons per acre, resulting in fruit of intense flavor.  A single four-acre block, planted with the Syrah Noir clone, made up this wine. It was harvested by hand, for the final time in history, on October 10, 2009.

WINEMAKING NOTES:  The fruit was gently destemmed into small open-top fermentors.  Following a three-day cold soak to boost color without increasing tannins, the tanks were inoculated with yeast.  The cap was managed with a combination of punchdowns and pumpovers to maximize positive extraction, and the must was pressed after two weeks on the skins.  The wine was aged in French and American oak barrels, 40% or which were new, for 10 months, with periodic racking for aeration as required.  Only the best barrels were selected to form the vineyard-designate blend.  The wine was bottled on August 5, 2010.  This block has now been budded over to Chardonnay. TASTING NOTES:  The wine is very dark purple in color, with aromas of blueberry, Dutch cocoa, and clove.  On the palate there is fresh blackberry, dark chocolate, and cola, with hints of grilled meat and black pepper.  Mouth filling and structured, but soft and smooth, this Syrah drinks very well now, but should improve for many years to come.

This vintage produced 96 ( 750 ml ) 6-bottle cases.

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