2007 Rosella's Vineyard Syrah

Over the years, the Rosella’s Vineyard has proven to be the source of our most complex and complete Syrahs. While this has been the case for numerous vintages, it has only been over the past couple of years that we have felt confident in our ability, both in the vineyard and in the winery, to express these flavors in both a consistent and compelling manner. Combine this increased confidence with the superb 2007 growing season and we may have produced our finest Rosella’s Syrah ever in 2007.
The vintage was generally fairly cool in the Santa Lucia Highlands. We harvest both clones on October 23….six days earlier than in 2006, but at 10% less crop and lower sugar levels (but seemingly similar levels of phenolic maturity). We increased somewhat the amount of whole clusters used in the ferment to about 30% and decreased the amount of new French oak to less than one-third.
This wine was recently tasted by one of our most stalwart supporters, Frank Murray, at a preview tasting of our 2007 Syrahs, and he wrote this description of the wine, “Hitting and doing it right here. Packed with flavor, dark and juicy, game and licorice. After about 3 hours open, add more peppercorn, some spiciness, and a richer core. Don’t get much oak, just a really great bottle of Rosella’s. Excellent and a stand out for the night.”