Winemaker Notes
Very dark red. Campbell is lusciously smooth and pliant with amazing energetic acidity. The wine’s vivid and wildly herbal perfume grounded in blackcurrant, tar and violet open to reveal hints of white pepper, waves of intense currant and complex floral notes. The full-bodied palate is just as intricate, offering notable purity and concentrated, ripe flavors that fan across the palate. Long and deep flavors with subtle tannins that add focus along with the acids. Sonoma Coast/Annapolis AVA. Drink now over the next 10 years.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2022 Syrah Campbell Ranch was made with 70% whole clusters and matured in used puncheons. It has open-knit aromas of cassis, violet, graphite, mint and damp earth. The medium-bodied palate features concentrated, floral flavors. It’s framed by elegant, chalky tannins and vibrant acidity and has a long, perfumed finish.
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.