Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
This grows on the western flank of Sonoma Mountain, where the Pacific winds racing through the Petaluma Gap lend a cool green-peppercorn spice to syrah. Contrast that with sunny fruit and you have a bright, big-boned syrah with direction to all of its richness. Serve it with a grilled heritage pork chop.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Another outstanding wine is the 2013 Syrah Rodgers Creek, which comes from a cold site located in the Petaluma Gap in Sonoma. Fermented with one-third whole cluster, aged in mostly neutral French oak and bottled unfined and unfiltered, it boasts a terrific perfume of black pepper, lavender, olive and smoked dark fruits. Beautifully layered, medium-bodied, polished and balanced, with fine tannin, drink it anytime over the coming 5-7 years, and I wouldn't be surprised to see it keep for longer.
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.