Joseph Phelps Larry Hyde & Sons Vineyard Syrah 2014
-
Robert
Parker
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Blend: 94% Syrah, 6% Viognier
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A big surprise for me was the incredible quality of the Syrah Phelps produced in 2014 and 2015 from the Larry Hyde & Sons Vineyard. The 2014 Syrah Larry Hyde & Sons, which was co-fermented with 6% Viognier and aged 18 months in 30% new French puncheons and barrels, is a wonderful Côte Rôtie-like wine. Possibly the best Syrah the Phelps winery has ever produced (and they have been making wine longer than many), there are 1,600 cases of this sexy, endearing, dark purple wine, which has an incredibly intense bouquet of spring flowers, marmalade, honeysuckle, and blackcurrant and black raspberry fruit. This stunning wine, which is medium to full-bodied with silky tannins, would easily pass as a dead ringer for a Côte Rôtie in a blind tasting. Drink it over the next decade.
Other Vintages
2009-
Wine
Enthusiast
Joseph Phelps Vineyards is a family-owned winery committed to crafting world class, estate-grown wines. Founded in 1973 when Joe Phelps purchased a former cattle ranch near St. Helena in the Napa Valley, the winery now controls and farms nearly 375 acres of vines on eight estate vineyards in St. Helena, the Stags Leap District, Oakville, Rutherford, Oak Knoll District, Carneros and South Napa Valley. In 1999, the Phelps family added 100 acres of vineyard property near the town of Freestone on the Sonoma Coast, where Phelps now grows Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
Phelps is best known for its flagship Napa Valley blend of red Bordeaux varietals, Insignia, first produced in 1974. Awarded Wine Spectator's "Wine of the Year" in 2005, Insignia is widely regarded as a qualitative benchmark for California winemaking.
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.”
Known for elegant wines that combine power and finesse, Carneros is set in the rolling hills that straddle the southernmost parts of both Sonoma and Napa counties. The cooling winds from the abutting San Pablo Bay, combined with lots of midday California sunshine, create an ideal environment for producing wines with a perfect balance of crisp acidity and well-ripened fruit.
This cooler pocket of California lends itself to growing Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Syrah. Carneros is an important source of sparkling wines made in the style of Champagne as well.