Our Wines  :  2005 Russian River Syrah

This wine brings to mind one word: fun. Right from the get-go this Syrah unleashes an essence of smokiness, blueberries and dark chocolate.

This wine is blended from 3 different vineyards: Amber Ridge, Christensen Family and Sapphire Hill. All of the vineyards are located between Fulton and Windsor on the west side of Highway 101. The blend consists of seven barrels with only 1 barrel being new. This allows the wines' natural character to shine thru without the intrusion of too much oak.

The cooler than usual year in the Russian River Valley allowed us to hang the grapes late into October and thus they developed great texture and the aforementioned smoky, spicy fruit character. This cool growing season also helped the grapes maintain good levels of natural acidity so, although the wine is meant for consuming in the short term, it possesses sufficient backbone to improve for five or more years.

94 Novy Cellars 2005 Syrah (Russian River Valley) Editors' Choice Beautiful, irresistible Syrah, lush and sweet in fruit and oak. Soft and velvety, it offers layers of puréed raspberries, cherries, blackberries, blueberries and chocolate, with a rich edge of toasted marshmallow, gingerbread and butterscotch. Yet it's dry, with modest alcohol. - S.H.

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