2006 Rosella’s Vineyard Syrah

The Rosella’s Vineyard produces our most distinctive Syrah. Many customers have noted a unique citrus, even grapefruit character in the wine. We certainly have found that ourselves. In the 2006 vintage this grapefruit character is there but is less strong than the 2002 vintage, but stronger than the 2004 vintage. Perhaps that is because what is stronger about this wine than previous efforts is the sheer concentration of fruit and the weight of the wine.

The 2006 vintage is turning out to be a vintage that produced more weighty, concentrated Syrahs. The 2006 Rosella’s is no exception to this. The grapes were picked at the “usual time” for this vineyard — right at the end of October. This long hang time always allows the wine to develop a wider range of flavors. But in 2006 it also led to more weight and concentration. We also took some steps to assure a great degree of concentration including extending the cold soak from 5 to 7 days and using some whole clusters in the wine. We also aged the wine for longer in barrel than in previous vintages. The wine stayed in its original barrels from November of 2006 to May of 2008. As is always the case with all of our wines, we selected only certain barrels to make the cut for this vineyard-designated wine. Altogether 9 out of 20 barrels made their way into the bottle.

The 2006 Novy Rosella’s Vineyard Syrah has already been bestowed a 92 point rating from wine writer Robert Parker. He described the wine this way, “Ratcheting up the level of complexity, density, and richness is the 2006 Novy Rosella’s Vineyard Syrah. A beautiful bouquet of spring flowers, blackberries, cassis, and lead pencil shavings is followed by a deep, pure, forward, opulent Syrah that should drink well for 5-6 years.” Sounds pretty good to us!
92 points Wine Advocate