Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Along the same lines, with beautiful white and black pepper, game, leafy underbrush and berry fruit, the 2010 Syrah Sawyer Lindquist Vineyard Sonnie’s is medium-bodied, elegant and beautifully pure on the palate. Concentrated, with juicy acidity and plenty of length, it should be given 2-3 years of bottle age and consumed over the following decade. The 2010 is 100% Syrah that saw 30% whole cluster inclusion during fermentation and spent 16 months in 50% new French oak. Drink 2015-2025.
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.”
California’s coolest wine growing area, Edna Valley excels in the production of high quality Central Coast wines like Pinot noir, Chardonnay, Rhône Blends and aromatic white wines. It has a cool Mediterranean climate and an incredibly long growing season, giving late-ripening varieties plenty of opportunity to develop great phenolic complexity.
Its northwest to southeast orientation creates a direct path for cool Pacific air and fog to penetrate the valley from the Los Osos and Morro Bay area inwards. Low hillsides of both calcareous and volcanic soils are home to much of the vineyard acreage of the Edna Valley.