Whetstone Wine Cellars Phoenix Ranch Syrah 2009
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The center piece of our property is a 19th Century, French-style Chateau built by Hamden W. McIntyre, an expert in gravity-flow winery design. McIntyre designed several local gravity-flow wineries, including: Eschol (now Trefethen), the Seneca Ewer (Beaulieu), Greystone and Inglenook (Rubicon). In 1885 construction was complete of the “Hedgeside” winery and co-located distillery operations and caves. Many phases of the building have come and gone since 1885. From family deaths, the business changing hands, 14 years of Prohibition, but the beauty of the estate has always remained. Whether enjoying some of our Sonoma Coast or Russian River Valley Pinot Noirs, Carneros Chardonnay, cult favorite Russian River Valley Viognier, or Napa Valley Syrah we relish the opportunity to indulge your wine country experience.
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.