Clos Solene Cuvee Jean Syrah 2012
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As a boy, Guillaume learned how to grow and care for the grapes. Guillaume lived on the winery in the south of France, Chateau Saint-Eugénie, until he was 22. He was attending University in 2000 when his family decided to sell its land and move the wine business to Bordeaux, in the Côtes de Bourg, Northwest Bordeaux City. Guillaume stayed behind but while visiting his family he met his true love, Solène.
Guillaume caught a glimpse of 19-year-old Solène and was determined to meet her. And that is when the bolt of lightning, “coup de foudre” happened...
Passionate about viticulture, Guillaume dreamed of exploiting the riches of that unique terroir and climate, using his experience, creativity and ideas to create his own wines. He had only to leave France and move to California to put his plan to work...
The couple parted, Solène to Spain to study Spanish language, literature and civilization, and Guillaume to Paso Robles, in California, the: New World, to intern at a winery. By the end of the internship, Guillaume was offered a permanent job, but the love between he and Solène was great and he had to have her come for him to accept the job.
She got a letter from him while she was still in Spain, with a round trip to Paso Robles and a note saying: “If you put your confidence in me and follow me, I will offer you, in the New World, a Clos Solène, where the aromas will be more intense and the colors more brilliant, reflecting what I create with you as my muse.” This is how the couple decided to permanently move to the States together.
All the while, Guillaume had the vision of creating his signature wine, “I always wanted to work on my own creation, it’s not easy to take over a family business. I needed to stay busy and make things my way.”
As the only person making his wine, Guillaume gets to control every aspect of his product, from beginning to end, from the vines to the bottled wine.
Solène and Guillaume have now a budding family with a 7 year-old daughter, Clementine, 5 year-old son, Jean, and the newest, Juliette.
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.”
One of the coolest growing areas in California, the Arroyo Grande Valley runs from the southwest to the northeast, just a few miles from the Pacific Ocean and is part of the Central Coast AVA. Situated so that cold Pacific Ocean air and fog is allowed to filter into the valley, Arroyo Grande also has an incredibly long growing season. Bud break occurs in February in most years with flowering in May and harvest in late September; the area is classified as cool Mediterranean.
These weather factors combined with the soil types—continental and marine rocks, greywacke, limestone, shale and volcanic—create wines with great concentration and fresh acidity. The cooler end of the valley is perfect for Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and is a good producer of sparkling wines. The warmer, more inland part of the valley is home to some of California’s oldest Zinfandel vines.