Winemaker Notes
The grapes that go into Reva (97-100% Syrah with the balance Viognier) are from neutral sandy soils and portions of ranch that are chalky and quite alkaline. This combination makes for a wine with dark color, concentrated flavors of black fruits, fennel, and graphite. Perhaps the most distinguishing note of Reva is a unique iodine and oyster shell aromatic that is unlike anything in the winery's other Syrahs.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Moving to the Syrahs, the 2019 Syrah Reva reveals a much cooler climate-like style in its blackberry, graphite, pepper, and bouquet garni-like nuances, and it picks up an almost Cornas-like game and white pepper character with time in the glass. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, it has a pure, layered, elegant mouthfeel, ripe yet polished tannins, and a great finish. It reminds me slightly of the 2018, although with slightly less concentration. It will evolve for 20-25 years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
I tasted the 2019 Syrah Reva on July 8, shortly after its bottling in June. The 2019 is particularly elegant, with notable detail and vibrancy. "I've been more curious about the reaction of consumers to the 2019 Reva than I have in a long time," winemaker John Alban explains. "Will they like it? The Reva is very different in 2019." It's a touch aromatically coiled from its recent bottling, taking plenty of time and air to unfold scents of blackcurrants, peppermint patty, charcuterie, coffee beans and brown sugar. The full-bodied palate has a strong spine of refreshing acidity and plush, velvety tannins to balance its depth of flavor, and it offers a beautiful flourish of spice and floral tones that fan across the long finish. It's less ripe and hedonistic than in some vintages yet just as enjoyable!
Rating: 96+ -
Wine Spectator
Powerfully built and richly detailed, this Syrah has dynamic blackberry, bittersweet chocolate and peppered meat accents that build tension toward brooding tannins.
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.”
California’s coolest wine growing area, Edna Valley excels in the production of high quality Central Coast wines like Pinot noir, Chardonnay, Rhône Blends and aromatic white wines. It has a cool Mediterranean climate and an incredibly long growing season, giving late-ripening varieties plenty of opportunity to develop great phenolic complexity.
Its northwest to southeast orientation creates a direct path for cool Pacific air and fog to penetrate the valley from the Los Osos and Morro Bay area inwards. Low hillsides of both calcareous and volcanic soils are home to much of the vineyard acreage of the Edna Valley.