Winemaker Notes
Ramey Syrahs are grown in the cool climate of the Sonoma Coast which offers a style reminiscent of the Northern Rhone regions of Hermitage and Cornas: aromas and flavors of smoked meat, white pepper, green olive and grapefruit, coupled with a silky texture and savory flavor.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Syrah Sonoma Coast is blended with 11% Viognier and comes from Cole Creek and Rodgers Creek vineyards this year. Medium to deep ruby, the aromatics of warm blackberries and blueberries are complemented with lovely notes of pepper, blue flowers, bacon fat, garrigue and mint. It has a medium weight and floods the mouth with concentrated red and blue berry fruits, finely grained and with just enough freshness to lift the finish.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2017 Syrah Sonoma Coast has a medium purple/ruby hue as well as classic Syrah gaminess and pepperiness. With lots of blackberry fruit, some ground herb, bacon fat, and olive notes as well as medium to full-bodied richness on the palate, it's already drinking nicely and has a supple, approachable style. I would drink bottles over the coming 7-8 years or so.
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Wine Spectator
Nicely structured and tightly focused, this red offers refined currant, smoked meat and crushed stone accents that pick up tension toward medium-grained tannins. Best from 2022 through 2030.
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.