Winemaker Notes
Blend: 65% Syrah, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Petit Verdot, 10% Grenache
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2009 Alchemist comes across as powerful, tightly coiled and quite inward. Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot add considerable structure as layers of blue and black fruit saturate the palate. This is another powerful, long wine endowed with exceptional definition and a dark, brooding personality. In 2009 the blend is 65% Syrah, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Petit Verdot and 10% Grenache. The wine saw 55% new barrels. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2024.
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James Suckling
An opulent wine with lots of dark fruits, minerals and vanilla. New wood coming through now but will melt into the wine. Full and velvety with lovely texture and a long finish. 65% Syrah, 15% Cabernet Sauvigon, 10% Petit Verdot and 10% Grenache. Give it a year or two to come together.
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Wine Spectator
Both intense and firm, this Syrah-driven red is more open-knit than the other Booker 2009s, yet it tightens the noose on the finish. A berry soup of reds. Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot and Grenache. Best from 2012 through 2022.
With bold fruit flavors and accents of sweet spice, Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre form the base of the classic Rhône Red Blend, while Carignan, Cinsault and Counoise often come in to play. Though they originated from France’s southern Rhône Valley, with some creative interpretation, Rhône blends have also become popular in other countries. Somm Secret—Putting their own local spin on the Rhône Red Blend, those from Priorat often include Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. In California, it is not uncommon to see Petite Sirah make an appearance.
The largest and perhaps most varied of California’s wine-growing regions, the Central Coast produces a good majority of the state's wine. This vast California wine district stretches from San Francisco all the way to Santa Barbara along the coast, and reaches inland nearly all the way to the Central Valley.
Encompassing an extremely diverse array of climates, soil types and wine styles, it contains many smaller sub-AVAs, including San Francisco Bay, Monterey, the Santa Cruz Mountains, Paso Robles, Edna Valley, Santa Ynez Valley and Santa Maria Valley.
While the Central Coast California wine region could probably support almost any major grape varietiy, it is famous for a few Central Coast reds and whites. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel are among the major ones. The Central Coast is home to many of the state's small, artisanal wineries crafting unique, high-quality wines, as well as larger producers also making exceptional wines.