For 15 years this remarkable vineyard on a Napa Valley hillside has produced intense, pepper-laden fruit. With the vineyard's recent sale, this year's Syrah is particularly precious — these 115 cases, made with 30% whole-cluster fermentation and foot-stomping, are the last we'll ever offer. We find the nose full of intense, mouth-watering black pepper, herbs, creosote, blackberry, anise, and chocolate. Once in the mouth, the full body carries exceptionally pungent flavors echoing the nose, leading to a perfumed finish which features soft tannins but the structure to age, with a lingering note of sandalwood.
Wonderful aromas of blackberry, black and white pepper and new leather fold over to the palate. This keeps its focus, ending with a tight yet complex and expansive finish. Drink now through 2012.
Good deep medium ruby. Musky aromas of blackberry, white pepper, smoked meat, mocha and rosemary. Very rich, dense and peppery, if not particularly complex today; noteworthy for its fat middle and clarity of aromas. Finishes with fairly fine tannins. An intriguing syrah that was vinified with about one-third whole clusters. From an east-facing hillside planted on volcanic ash in the southeast corner of Napa. The pH here is a high 4.0, and yet the vines are in shade after 5:00 in the afternoon, according to winemaker Mike Hirby.
