Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
More tight, fresh and focused, the 2004 Syrah Donna's has lots of pepper, charred meat and smoked earth characteristics with a medium to full-bodied, focused style on the palate. It lacks the girth and generosity of a top vintage, yet still has plenty to love in its classical, straight and foursquare style. I suspect its structure will outlive the fruit when all is said and done.
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Wine Enthusiast
Made more in a Côtes-du-Rhône style than Northern Rhône, even though it's all Syrah, this wine is medium-bodied and gentle, with approachable blackberry, cherry, cedar and milk chocolate flavors. It's almost jammy, but rich tannins and brisk acidity make it a serious red wine.
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.”
The largest and perhaps most varied of California’s wine-growing regions, the Central Coast produces a good majority of the state's wine. This vast California wine district stretches from San Francisco all the way to Santa Barbara along the coast, and reaches inland nearly all the way to the Central Valley.
Encompassing an extremely diverse array of climates, soil types and wine styles, it contains many smaller sub-AVAs, including San Francisco Bay, Monterey, the Santa Cruz Mountains, Paso Robles, Edna Valley, Santa Ynez Valley and Santa Maria Valley.
While the Central Coast California wine region could probably support almost any major grape varietiy, it is famous for a few Central Coast reds and whites. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel are among the major ones. The Central Coast is home to many of the state's small, artisanal wineries crafting unique, high-quality wines, as well as larger producers also making exceptional wines.