Palate

Our Syrahs are grown in the cool climate of the Sonoma Coast which offers a style reminiscent of the Northern Rhone regions of Hermitage and Cornas: aromas and flavors of smoked meat, white pepper, green olive and grapefruit, coupled with a silky texture and savory flavor.

Growing Conditions

Winter 2015 was the warmest on record, resulting in early budbreak. Cooler, wetter weather in spring months slowed development, however, leading to a challenging, extended bloom period. The resulting uneven fruit set translated to a small crop and smaller berries with very concentrated flavors. Weather throughout the summer growing season was consistently warm, bringing on a very early harvest.

46% Cole Creek Vineyard, 20% Rodgers Creek Vineyard, 20% Alegría Vineyard, 14%
Parliament Hills

Cole Creek Vineyard was planted to our specifications in 2006 and consists of very gravelly
Felta clay loam. It is planted with Syrah Alban Selection, Clone 174 and a special Australian
selection, with 6% Viognier.
Rodgers Creek Vineyard has poor volcanic soils and is planted with Syrah 877 and 8%
Viognier. It was planted to our specifications in 2002.
The Syrah we receive from Alegría Vineyard is from their south-facing hillside block, planted
on 5C rootstock in 1991 as a field blend of three clonal selections of Syrah. The soil is alluvial
hillside and Haire clay loam.
Parliment Hills sits just off of Lakeville Highway between the town of Petaluma and the San
Pablo Bay. The soil is predominately Diablo clay.

Harvest

September 2nd (Cole Creek Vineyard), September 14th (Alegria Vineyard), September 15th
(Parliament Hills), and September 25th (Rodgers Creek Vineyard)

Bottling

Our 2015 Sonoma Coast Syrah was bottled without filtration in June, 2017.

Winemaking

94% Syrah and 6% Viognier, co-fermented. Our 2015 Sonoma Coast Syrah fermented in tank as 75% destemmed fruit with 25% whole Syrah clusters. We utilized native-yeast and malolactic fermentations.


Aging

The wine rested sur lies for 12 months in 62% new French barrels from François Frères, Demptos and Taransaud Beaune.