Winemaker Notes
Intense lavender, dark rose petal and black berries dominate the nose with nuances of pepper and sanguine steak. Mid-palate depth and fine structure keep this wine going on and on. Despite all the intensity, Campbell stays energetic, textured, and fresh—true to the cool site and Goldridge Soils it's grown on.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 Syrah Campbell Ranch is a touch youthfully reticent from its recent bottling, taking plenty of time to release aromas of blueberry, blackcurrants, mint chocolate and violet. The full-bodied palate has an impressively concentrated core of pure, perfumed fruit, supported by pleasantly chewy tannins and seamless acidity. This Syrah offers both power and detail and will need 3 to 5+ years in bottle to fully unwind. Rating:94+
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.”
A vast appellation covering Sonoma County’s Pacific coastline, the Sonoma Coast AVA runs all the way from the Mendocino County border, south to the San Pablo Bay. The region can actually be divided into two sections—the actual coastal vineyards, marked by marine soils, cool temperatures and saline ocean breezes—and the warmer, drier vineyards further inland, which are still heavily influenced by the Pacific but not quite with same intensity.
Contained within the appellation are the much smaller Fort Ross-Seaview and Petaluma Gap AVAs.
The Sonoma Coast is highly regarded for elegant Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and, increasingly, cool-climate Syrah. The wines have high acidity, moderate alcohol, firm tannin, and balanced ripeness.