Terre Rouge Cotes de l'Ouest Syrah 2003
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The wine is very forward and drinkable shortly after bottling, making it a great everyday Syrah and perfect as a restaurant glass pour. This vintage is exceedingly dark in color with rich, silky wild raspberry fruit flavors laced with pepper, tar and herb tones. Aromas are raspberry, smoky, wild gamey, peppery and cinnamon.
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Terre Rouge is located in California on the West Slope of the Sierra Nevada in Amador County’s Shenandoah Valley. The wines are made from vineyards in four Sierra Foothill counties: Placer, El Dorado, Amador, and Calaveras. They also source fruit from one vineyard site in the soon-to-be new Clements appellation.
Terre Rouge's style emphasizes deep color, balanced flavors, full middle palate, and a long finish, with power and finesse. These wines gain complexity with age. Their goal has been to make the finest wines possible from the region - wines that transcend time and place and can be placed on the table with the best wines of the world.
President and Winemaker Bill Easton has been in the wine trade for over 30 years, not only as a winemaker, but also as a wine retailer, importer, and vineyard consultant. He has been handcrafting Terre Rouge Wines since the mid-1980's. Bill brings his well-honed palate to the table each time he makes one of our wines. He has an uncanny ability to create wines that express both power and finesse. He is not satisfied by making wines that are just well extracted, but strives to craft wines of nuance and complexity.
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”
Originally a source of oenological sustenance for gold-seeking miners of the mid-1800s, the Sierra Foothills was the first region in California to produce wines from European grape varieties. Located between Sacramento and the Nevada border, this area’s immigrant settlers chose to forgo growing the then-ubiquitous Mission grape and instead brought with them superior vines from the Old World to plant alongside mining camps.
Zinfandel has been the most important variety of this region since its inception, taking on a spicy character with brambly fruit and firm structure. Amador and El Dorado counties, benefiting from the presence of volcanic and granite soils, are home to the best examples. Bold, robust Rhône Blends and Barbera are also important regional specialties.