Winemaker Notes
Ruby red. Complex aromatics of boysenberry and violet with a spice box component of brown spices mixed with ground pepper. Nuanced and pure, the palate impression is streamlined and luxurious at once, with the layered, silky fruit lifted by the savory spice accents. The satiny texture here is paramount, leading into a fruit-driven finish with the tannins and structure completely integrated in the
collective impression.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2018 Syrah Rodgers Creek is also terrific, with classic cool-climate notes of mulled red and black raspberries, white pepper, sappy herbs, and a kiss of bacon fat. Rich, medium to full-bodied, beautifully textured, balanced, and seamless on the palate.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2018 Skylark Rodgers Creek Vineyard Syrah spins back to an Old World, rustic style. TASTING NOTES: This wine offers aromas and flavors of savory spices, black fruit, and dried earthy notes. Enjoy it with a well-spiced lamb stew.(Tasted: August 15, 2022, San Francisco, CA)
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.