Description
This is the nineteenth vintage of our Les Côtes de l’Ouest Syrah. It is made from fruit grown (about 60% of the blend) at
a superb vineyard site that is planted in the hills just west of the Amador County line, just a few miles from the
Mokelumne River in Clements Hills (a new Lodi sub-appellation). Tight spacing, vertical trellising, and upward shoot
positioning give the fruit maximum sun exposure to promote full flavor development. It is blended with our mountain
Syrah (the remaining 40% of the blend) grown at several other sites. We chose theses sites because of their impeccable
vineyard management (some of which we farm) and their flavor compatibility. The soils at the Clements Hills site are
alluvium granite rock (Monpellier & Cometa) and the climate is moderated by Delta cooling. The other sites are a
variety of volcanic and granite-based soil series that develop grapes with small cluster morphology. We find this wine is
very forward and drinkable shortly after bottling, making it a great everyday Syrah, and perfect as a restaurant glass
pour. This 2017 vintage has beautiful color with rich, silky, wild raspberry fruit flavors laced with pepper, sage, tar, and
olive/herb tones. Aromas are raspberry, smoky, wild gamey, peppery, and cinnamon. The wine has a clean purity of
Syrah fruit that is reminiscent of many St. Joseph’s and other Northern Rhone’s. It has forward fruit flavors and great
acid balance. It is very smooth and savory in the mouth.
We harvested theses Syrah sites at about the normal calendar date in 2017, which was the 11th of September at 24.5 to
25.0? brix. The berry size was about normal in 2017, but we decided to co-ferment the Syrah with a bit of Viognier in
each fermentor to finesse the wine. The grapes were lightly-crushed and fermented in our larger tanks and irrigated to
minimize tannin extraction and aged 17 months in 20% new and 80% used French oak barrels. The finished wine is
96% Syrah and 4% Viognier.
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