Winemaker Notes
Opaque. High-toned aromatics of blackberry, raspberry, cocoa nib, freshly ground black pepper and spring violet. The luxurious palate features dense black fruits, textural and creamy, with the stem inclusion here adding a savory note to the ripe fruit profile. The fruit encompasses the entire palate, leaving a lasting impression of saturated black fruits, sweet and savory spices, leading into a lengthy finish with polished tannins adding that age-worthy structure.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The last vintage for the cuvée as the vineyard has been pulled out, the 2021 Syrah Rodgers Creek Vineyard is all Syrah that spent two years in one-third new French oak. Ripe black fruits, pepper, leafy herbs, roasted meat, and savory, spicy notes all emerge on the nose, and it hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, a layered mouthfeel, and ripe tannins. It's nicely balanced, reveals some chocolaty, meaty nuances with time in the glass, and has outstanding length.
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.