Drew Mendocino Ridge Valenti Vineyard Syrah 2016
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Wine
Enthusiast -
Wine &
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Wilfred
Wong
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Winemaker Notes
We have been working with this vineyard for over 12 years now, taking over the farming lease in 2013 and continue to farm to the organic standard. We grafted over an acre to a Chave Selection in 2013, to add some additional diversity to this Syrah bottling. At six miles from the ocean at 1300-1400 ft, this mid-elevation windswept ridgetop site produces a distinctive and very elegant cool-climate Syrah. The constant maritime winds coupled with thin marginal soils of oceanic sedimentary origins lends itself to naturally lower yields. This translates into greater intensity at lower sugar levels and firm acid structure. The aromas immediately remind of a classic cool-climate Syrah with distinctive cracked pepper notes, blue and black fruits, game, white pepper, black tea, and olives. This is a finely structured wine and elegant wine that delivers distinctive pedigree consistently.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Serious underlying fruit concentration and an intense mineral and black-pepper aroma give this full-bodied wine an imposing approach. It shows deep and dark fruit flavors, a fascinating burnt sage and burnt orange aspect, very firm tannins and bone-dry balance. It's impressive now and will be delicious after 2025.
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Wine & Spirits
When it was first poured, I liked this wine, clearly built for Rhône-heads with its cracked-green-peppercorn spice and porky intensity. But then I fell in love with it the next day. As it opens, it turns stemmy in the best way, and races, fragrant, rosy, with the scent of freshly turned earth and tart red fruit. I could drink this all night, starting with a thick-cut pork chop, then with aged Comté, then just on its own. Valenti Ranch, an east-facing ridge six miles from the Pacific, consistently grows some of California’s best syrahs (I’ve scored Drew’s 2008 and 2011 95 points or better; Luke Sykora scored the 2014 at the same level). Jason Drew makes this wine without added yeasts and with 50 percent whole clusters, cofermenting the fruit with a little viognier. Get some.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2016 Drew Syrah advances the quality of this grape in California. TASTING NOTES: This wine offers an explosion of black fruit aromas and flavors. It stays elegant in the finish. Pair it with slowly-braised beef dishes. (Tasted: September 26, 2019, San Francisco, CA)
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Wine &
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Jason and Molly Drew started Drew eighteen years ago with a clear goal in mind: to craft small lot coastal wines that express site specificity and traditional varietal character. While the beginnings of Drew began in the Santa Rita Hills AVA in 2000, they transplanted their small operation to the Mendocino Coast in 2005 to establish their estate ranch and winery.
In 2004 they had stumbled upon an old 26-acre apple orchard for sale within the Mendocino Ridge Appellation. The Mendocino Ridge is the most westernmost AVA within Mendocino County located directly west and south west of Anderson Valley and directly north of the true Sonoma Coast. While others saw a daunting project in this old orchard property, Jason and Molly saw ancient oceanic soils, south facing slopes and a true coastal climate, with the ocean a mere 3.3 miles away. It didn't take long for them to decide to leap and leap they did.
They spent the following year drawing, planning and building their boutique winery. Spending that year living in a 19 ft Airstream trailer along with their two young boys, to ensure construction moved as planned. They eventually planted their 7-acre estate Pinot Noir vineyard, which produced its first crop in 2014. A milestone that was hard earned after 25 years in the wine industry. Jason is a true craftsman of his trade having spent many years honing his craft with his viticultural and winemaking background, having worked for several northern and central California estate winery and vineyards.
Drew continues to focus on small lot coastal Pinot Noir and Syrah from both Anderson Valley and the Mendocino Ridge. They continue their long-standing partnerships with several local vineyard growers who share their passion for sustainable and meticulous farming practices. Single vineyard sources are chosen for their climate, clonal selection and complexity of soil type. Winemaking practices remain focused on traditional methods that include whole cluster and native yeast fermentations, hand punchdowns and in most instances, no fining or filtering.
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.”
Essentially a northern extension of the Sonoma Coast AVA but part of Mendocino County, Mendocino Ridge is one of the rare appellations defined by elevation only. The Mendocino Ridge AVA is reserved only for vineyards at or above 1,200 feet between the Anderson Valley and Pacific Ocean.