Winemaker Notes
This Rhone-style blend has a rich ruby red color, highlighted with purple edges. Bramble, blackberry, and hints of violets jump out of the glass. The wine is medium-bodied with soft tannins; it offers a mouthful of black fruit, mocha, and white pepper flavors. Its weight and balance make it a perfect pairing with anything off the grill.
Professional Ratings
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Tasting Panel
Glossy and lush with deep blackberry fruit; bright, juicy, and spicy; crisp and stylish. 87% Syrah, 9% Grenache, and 4% Tempranillo.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Composed of 87% Syrah, 9% Grenache and 4% Tempranillo, the 2015 Syrah G17 has a medium to deep garnet-purple color and nose of licorice, tar and black soil over a core of blackberries and cassis, with hints of dark chocolate and cloves. Medium-bodied, with a good core of black fruit and plenty of pepper and spice, the expressive fruit is well framed by ripe, rounded tannins and it finishes on a lovely aniseed note.
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 geographic and climatic paradise for grape vines, Monterey is a part of the greater Central Coast AVA and contains within it five smaller sub-appellations, including Arroyo Seco, San Lucas, San Bernabe, Hames Valley and the famous Santa Lucia Highlands. The climate is relatively warm but tempered by cool, coastal winds, allowing the regions in Monterey County an exceptionally long growing season. Bud break often happens two weeks sooner and harvest tends to be two weeks later compared to other surrounding regions.
Monterey’s coastal side, where the cooling ocean fog allows grapes to develop a perfect sugar-acid balance, excels in the production of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Riesling. Warmer, inland subzones are home to fleshy, concentrated and full-bodied reds like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Zinfandel.
Chardonnay, covering about 40% of vineyard acreage, is the most widely planted grape in all of Monterey County.