Our Wines  :  2005 Judge Family Syrah

Syrah is currently in a state of flux in the American market. When you see a single-vineyard Syrah you often don't know if it comes from a warmer climate vineyard and is more Aussie in style or if it comes from a cooler climate location and thus tends to show more Rhone characteristics. With the Judge Family Vineyard there is never any doubt. This is one of, if not the coolest Syrah vineyard, that we work with. In the especially cool 2005 growing season the grapes were picked on November 3rd at sugar levels between 23.8 and 24.8 brix.

The three clones were fermented using a combination of yeasts with two of the clones fermented using 20% whole clusters. Ultimately, we selected 2/3 of the barrels for the final wine with only 38% of the barrels being new French oak.

The 2005 Novy Judge Vineyard Syrah is one of our most aromatically expressive wines. On the nose you smell berries, sage, and raspberry with hints of mushroom and earth. The palate is rich and velvet-like with sweet raspberry and plum fruits and flavors of bacon and truffles. This is a concentrated, complex, and compelling Syrah that makes for fine immediate
drinking yet will undoubtedly improve with several hours aeration or several years of aging.

90 Novy Cellars 2005 Judge Family Vineyard Syrah Editors' Choice Shows the distinctive crushed pepper aroma of a fine Northern Rhône Syrah, although the wine is much softer than anything from that region. The softness makes it gentle and easy to enjoy now, with its delicious flavors of blackberries, cherries, black raspberries, plums and milk chocolate.