Winemaker Notes
Sweet purple flowers, pink peppercorns, blueberry liqueur, white pepper, and exotic high toned fruit pastilles. Plush blue fruits on the pallet, spicy with high toned red fruits and swirling aromas of earth, umami and fresh summer fruits. Intense and vibrant, this is going to stay fresh and lively for many years into the future and improve with time in your cellar.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2022 Syrah Sonoma Hillsides was fermented with whole clusters and matured. It’s bursting with scents of blueberry liqueur, candied violets, powdered sugar and Castelvetrano olives. The medium-bodied palate shows off the prettier side of Syrah with its restrained ripeness, detail and perfume. It’s structured by finely chalky tannins and bright acidity and has a long, floral finish. Rating: 93+
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.”
Home to a diverse array of smaller AVAs with varied microclimates and soil types, Sonoma County has something for every wine lover. Physically twice as large as Napa Valley, the region only produces about half the amount of wine but boasts both tremendous quality and variety. With its laid-back atmosphere and down-to-earth attitude, the wineries of Sonoma are appreciated by wine tourists for their friendliness and approachability. The entire county intends to become a 100% sustainable winegrowing region by 2019.
Sonoma County wines are produced with carefully selected grape varieties to reflect the best attributes of their sites—Dry Creek Valley’s consistent sunshine is ideal for Zinfandel, while the warm Alexander Valley is responsible for rich, voluptuous red wines like Cabernet Sauvignon. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are important throughout the county, most notably in the cooler AVAs of Russian River, Sonoma Coast and Carneros. Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot and Syrah have also found a firm footing here.