Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
I was blown away by the four Syrahs that Eric Sussman is producing. The 2013 Syrah Las Colinas comes from three cool-climate sites and is aged predominantly in 500-liter wood puncheons before being bottled unfined and unfiltered. The wine offers loads of almost Côte-Rôtie-like black olive tapenade, grilled meats, steak tartare, blackberry and cassis. It is full-bodied, dense and rich, but with sweet tannin and just enough acidity for vibrancy and delineation. Drink it over the next 8-10 years.
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 vast appellation covering Sonoma County’s Pacific coastline, the Sonoma Coast AVA runs all the way from the Mendocino County border, south to the San Pablo Bay. The region can actually be divided into two sections—the actual coastal vineyards, marked by marine soils, cool temperatures and saline ocean breezes—and the warmer, drier vineyards further inland, which are still heavily influenced by the Pacific but not quite with same intensity.
Contained within the appellation are the much smaller Fort Ross-Seaview and Petaluma Gap AVAs.
The Sonoma Coast is highly regarded for elegant Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and, increasingly, cool-climate Syrah. The wines have high acidity, moderate alcohol, firm tannin, and balanced ripeness.