Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2007 Syrah is full-bodied and opulent, yet still holds onto a beautiful sense of purity and elegance. Smoked darker berries, ground pepper, truffly earth, and hints of iron all make an appearance in the bouquet, and this beauty has a stacked mid-palate as well as well as integrated tannins. It’s fully mature yet will evolve gracefully going forward.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
There are 475 cases of the 2007 IX Syrah Estate, which offers up flowery, roasted meat, balsamic, tar, and blackberry characteristics in a full-bodied format. The wine reveals sweet tannin, and layers of fruit, including a note of lavender that emerges as the wine sits in the glass. It should drink well for a decade.
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Wine Spectator
Firm, rich and layered, offering spicy dried berry, mineral, anise and sage flavors that are full-bodied and stylish. Firms up on the finish, with a subtle spicy edge.
Undoubtedly proving its merit over and over, Napa Valley is a now a leading force in the world of prestigious red wine regions. Though Cabernet Sauvignon dominates Napa Valley, other red varieties certainly thrive here. Important but often overlooked include Merlot and other Bordeaux varieties well-regarded on their own as well as for their blending capacities. Very old vine Zinfandel represents an important historical stronghold for the region and Pinot noir is produced in the cooler southern parts, close to the San Pablo Bay.
Perfectly situated running north to south, the valley acts as a corridor, pulling cool, moist air up from the San Pablo Bay in the evenings during the hot days of the growing season, which leads to even and slow grape ripening. Furthermore the valley claims over 100 soil variations including layers of volcanic, gravel, sand and silt—a combination excellent for world-class red wine production.