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Novy Family Wines Current Releases - 2000
Page-Nord Syrah
It is difficult to talk about the 2000 Page-Nord Syrah without
first talking about its predecessor, the 1999 Page-Nord Syrah. Upon
release, the 1999 Page-Nord Syrah was the "hot ticket"
amongst our two single-vineyard wines. With a hedonistic, burly
nature and a 91 rating in the Wine Spectator it proved to be an
immediate hit. However, as time passed and more people tasted the
wines, the other vineyard designated Syrah, the 1999 Garys' Vineyard,
gained a strong following. We noticed that especially among Rhone
wine lovers the Garys' Vineyard was the hit. It was not as massively
fruited as the Page-Nord nor was it nearly as tannic-but the wine
possessed a complexity and distinct earthiness that was missing
from the Page-Nord. Now, flash ahead a year to the 2000 vintage
and it almost seems that the wines are reversed. The 2000 Novy Page-Nord
Syrah is the complex, earthy, even (dare we say it) balanced wine,
while the 2000 Garys' is the bigger, more hedonistic wine. How did
this come about? We aren't really certain but here's how we made
the wine.
The Page-Nord Vineyard is at the southern end of the Napa Valley
between Yountville and the city of Napa. This location, at the cooler
end of a warmer valley, allows for a long hang-time and yet also
provided the vines with sufficient heat to fully ripen the grapes.
Thus, even in a warm growing season like 2000 we were able to hold
off picking until the end of October. On October 20 we harvested
half of the vineyard at a healthy 25.0 brix. We harvested the remaining
grapes on October 28th at a good 23.5 brix.
We destemmed all of the grapes and fermented them using a combination
of indigenous and cultured yeasts. We experimented with a different
selection of cultured yeasts including a yeast that has been isolated
in Italy's Barolo region and that is known for emphasizing the wine's
more earthy, "raw" characteristics. We also experimented
with fermentation in a bigger tank using pumpovers on the must rather
than punchdowns. Syrah seems to do well with the greater aeration
provided through pumpovers. Interestingly enough, we liked both
experiments enough to include them in the final blend. And, much
like last year, we pressed a portion of the wine to barrel sweet
and allowed it to finish fermentation in oak. This technique, used
more commonly in Australia, produces wines of great textural richness.
This, too, made it into the final blend.
The wine was aged in approximately 25% new French oak barrels for
15 months without being racked until bottling. Through extensive
tasting we carefully selected the barrels used for the final blend
with only 46% of the barrels making the final wine. At bottling
these remaining barrels were racked by gravity to a tank and then
bottled unfiltered and unfined.
The 2000 Novy Page-Nord Syrah shows an unusual level of complexity
on the nose. It is full of rich jammy fruit but also an earthy,
even mineral character. On the palate it has good weight, rich dark
fruits, and a unique black coal element. A combination of good natural
acidity and a slight tightness at the back of the palate leads us
to believe that this wine will only become more complex and interesting
with several years in the cellar.
CASE PRODUCTION: 568 cases
RETAIL PRICE: $25 per bottle
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