Winemaker Notes
This is a deeply concentrated wine with dense layers of aromatic complexity. Loads of deeply-concentrated and incredibly spicy fruit aromas fill your glass. In the mouth you'll find thick concentrated and riotous meaty Syrah flavors, smoky wood tones, exotic spices, mineral tones, and fine tannins. Great structure and aging potential. A sublime treat!
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The flagship offering is the 2001 Syrah Ascent, a limited production cuvee of 200 cases. It offers up notions of vanilla, blackberry liqueur, pepper, barbeque spices, and meat in both the aromas and flavors. Full-bodied and opulent, this big yet well-balanced 2001 can be drunk now, or cellared for a decade. An impressive effort, it is unquestionably the finest Syrah produced in the Sierra Foothills.
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.”
Originally a source of oenological sustenance for gold-seeking miners of the mid-1800s, the Sierra Foothills was the first region in California to produce wines from European grape varieties. Located between Sacramento and the Nevada border, this area’s immigrant settlers chose to forgo growing the then-ubiquitous Mission grape and instead brought with them superior vines from the Old World to plant alongside mining camps.
Zinfandel has been the most important variety of this region since its inception, taking on a spicy character with brambly fruit and firm structure. Amador and El Dorado counties, benefiting from the presence of volcanic and granite soils, are home to the best examples. Bold, robust Rhône Blends and Barbera are also important regional specialties.