Winemaker Notes
Deep, dark violet in color, the Matetic Syrah has complex aromas that show the wine's coastal origins. Elegant notes of pepper, wet earth, meat, spices, and chocolate combine with subtle violet notes. On the palate, the flavors are reminiscent of black fruit with iodized notes, and an intense, elegant finish.
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
Tangy peppercorn, spice, bacon, graphite and dried flowers on top of the generous blackberries and blueberries. The medium- to full-bodied palate has evenly packed tannins and spiced dark fruit. Smooth, round and very silky and long. Complex and already delicious now, but will hold well, too.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The superb 2018 Syrah has pungent varietal notes of violets, bacon fat, tar and a touch of herbs, some olives and a spicy twist of black peppercorns. It goes back to the finest vintages of this bottling, fermented in open vats with some full clusters and a soft extraction followed by malolactic in barrels, 20% of them new, where the wine matured for 18 months. It reveals a medium to full-bodied palate, juicy and with fine-grained tannins with very good overall balance. It's in line with the 2014 or 2013.
-
Vinous
The 2018 Syrah from San Antonio was aged for 18 months in 30% new barrels. Dark purple in color. The nose offers blackberry notes with hints of jam and pepper over a layered, compact expression of tapenade, flesh and spices. Voluminous in the mouth with velvety tannins. The expansive palate is stirred up by the tart freshness, resulting in intense dark fruit flavors. A ripe, coastal red.
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.”
Its rolling, coastal hills encouraged great investment in the 1990s from those in search of a cooler grape growing environment compared to those found in Chile’s Central Valley. All of the vineyards of the San Antonio Valley, which runs north to south and parallel to the coast, experience the cooling effect of the ocean and are made of vine-loving clay and granitic soils. While Sauvignon Blanc put this valley on the Chilean wine map, high quality Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are emerging and some producers are starting to experiment with sparkling wine.