2006 Novy Santa Lucia Highlands Syrah

For many years the Santa Lucia Highlands were know best for their Pinot Noirs. Certainly, Pinot Noir continues to be the “driver” for this region, but as time goes by the Syrahs are gaining increasing praise. With the outstanding 2006 vintage, Syrah may have even sprung to the forefront in press and praise. The 2006 Novy Santa Lucia Highlands Syrah is a product of the careful blending of wine from three fantastic vineyards – the Rosella’s Vineyard, the Garys’ Vineyard, and the Susan’s Hill Vineyard. Each of these properties produces remarkable wined in their own right and we do make a vineyard-designated wine from each property. But we also work hard to come up with an outstanding blend from these locations in a bit more accessible style. To create this we blended 52% Rosella’s Syrah, 43% Garys’ Syrah, and 5% Susan’s Hill fruit together and then returned it to barrel, letting the flavors marry until April of 2008 when we bottled it without fining or filtration. We are fortunate to have already received a 90 point rating from wine writer Robert Parker on this wine. He described it this way, “The generic 2006 Syrah Santa Lucia Highlands is a full-bodied beauty offering up notions of tapenade, creme de cassis, black cherries, forest floor, and damp earth. This dense, supple-textured effort is a glorious, fruit-driven Syrah with plenty of personality. Enjoy it over the next 3-4 years.”

From the Arizona Daily Sun, azdailysun.com
Vineyards of Syrah keep expanding, making it an increasingly prominent grape in California. This new beauty has gorgeous purple-hued color, full-bodied flavors, exceptional complexity and an extended finish. Medium-soft tannins allow for a few years of aging. Ideal with full-flavored dishes such as pot roasts and game. - John Vankat