Voss Vineyards Ocala Syrah 2002
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At Voss we have over 20 years experience producing quality Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc and multiple decades of experience producing Sauvignon Blanc in Australia and New Zealand. As a Sauvignon Blanc specialist we have the luxury of total focus in vineyard and winery practicing minimal intervention. A single sku sourced from a 100% certified single vineyard with a single focus on producing high quality wine reflective of region and remaining true to the wonderfully pure aromatics and texture of Sauvignon Blanc. The Voss Sauvignon Blanc style is crafted for freshness, vibrancy, lower alcohol, texture and length on the palate. The taste of the wine has a direct link to the vineyard and the way the wine is carefully nurtured and protected. Voss Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc is a single vineyard offering from the Yountville Appellation of California. Planted in 1978, the Morgaen Lee Vineyard has been farmed organically since 1986, minimal intervention ensures the purity of place is prominent in our wine. The Voss style ensures that it is one of the earliest picked vineyards in the region, making our wine one of the first releases from the new vintage each year. Our traditional night harvesting during the cool of the early morning helps to retain the vibrant Sauvignon Blanc aromas and flavors. The grapes go through “skin contact” for 24 hours before pressing, which amplifies the intense fruit flavors from the vineyard and helps to develop a lovely texture on the palate. The juice is fermented at cool temperatures in stainless steel tanks over three weeks with selected yeasts that further enhance the flavors. 10% of the wine is placed in barrel, (5% new French oak, 5% older French oak) for four months to add texture to the wine and offset some of the austere characters. The remaining 90% is stainless steel tank fermented. After racking and blending, the wine is bottled at Napa Wine Company using Stelvin screw cap closures.
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.”
The Rutherford sub-region of Napa Valley centers on the town of Rutherford and covers some of Napa Valley’s finest vineyard real estate, spanning from the Mayacamas in the west, to the Vaca Mountains on the other side of the valley.
Inside of the Rutherford AVA, bordering the Mayacamas, is a stretch of uplands called the Rutherford Bench. (These bench lands technically run the length of Oakville as well). Mountain runoff creates deep, well-drained, alluvial soils on the bench, giving vine roots plenty of reason to permeate deep into the ground. The result is wine with great structure and complexity.
Rutherford Cabernet Sauvingons and Bordeaux Blends garner substantial attention for their enticing fragrances of dusty earth and dried herbs, broad and juicy mid-palates and lush and fine-grained tannins. The sub-appellation claims some of the valley’s most prized vineyards today, namely Caymus, Rubicon and Beckstoffer Georges III.
It is also home to Napa’s most influential and historic personalities. Thomas Rutherford, responsible for the appellation's name, made serious investments here in grape growing and wine production between the years of 1850 to 1880. Gustave Niebaum purchased a large swath of land and completed his winery in 1887, calling it “Inglenook.” Today this remains the oldest bonded winery in California. Georges Latour founded Beaulieu Vineyard in 1900, making it the oldest continuous winery in the state. Latour also hired the famous enologist, André Tchelistcheff, a man credited for single-handedly defining the modern Napa winemaking style.