Winemaker Notes
Vegan
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
Wells Guthrie made this wine after selling Copain to Jackson Family in 2016. A blend of syrah from the High Rock, Yorkville Estate and Hawk’s Butte vineyards, all between 1,200 to 1,600 feet in altitude, this was fermented with ambient yeasts, then aged in neutral barriques for 18 months. It starts out with the scent of a field of lavender. Then, between the wine’s tactile gentleness and lasting coastal forest scents, it develops into a glorious Pacific coast red. Underneath, there’s something dark and disruptive about the wine—some tasters found the acidity overpowering or the stemminess overt. As for me, I want it in my cellar.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Syrah Les Voisins is medium ruby-purple with an inviting nose of warm marionberry, blackberry, boysenberry and blueberry—wonderful layering of black and blue fruits!—with mint chocolate, roasted coffee bean, olive and violet nuances. The palate is medium-bodied with fantastic intensity, expertly framed with grainy tannins and great freshness, finishing long. This is so delicious! 800 cases produced.
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Wine Enthusiast
Nicely ripe fruit aromas and flavors meet seductive baking-spice and chocolate accents in this medium-bodied, poised and silky textured wine. It’s surprisingly elegant and well balanced for a wine so concentrated.
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 unique appellation placed in between the warm, Sonoma County Alexander Valley and the cooler Mendocino County's Anderson Valley, the Yorkville Highlands’ gravel soils are ideal for Bordeaux varieties and other full-bodied reds.