Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Medium to deep garnet-purple, the 2014 Syrah Cardiac Hill Vineyard opens with notes of red currants, crushed blackberries and mulberries with garrigue, roses, underbrush and Sichuan pepper nuances. Medium-bodied and elegantly styled in the mouth, it has gorgeous velvety tannins and and refreshing herbal notes intermingling with understated red and black berry flavors, finishing long and savory.
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Wine & Spirits
Grown on a volcanic hillside exposed to the cool winds of the Petaluma Gap, and made by Wind Gap winemaker Pax Mahle, this feels like a blockbuster at first—chewy and ripe, with a candied strawberry tone. As it takes on air it gets a lot more interesting, the structure maintaining its grip but growing finer and dustier while drawing in lifted aromas of peppercorn and hibiscus, settling into a smooth, satisfying and complex richness. Age it for a few years, then open it for rib eye.
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.”
With boundaries overlapping the Sonoma Coast AVA and Sonoma Mountain AVA, Bennett Valley benefits from the cooling effects of the nearby Pacific Ocean just like its neighbors. Top grapes planted include Barbera, Pinot noir and Chardonnay, as well as Bordeaux and Rhone varieties.