2004 Syrah from Bennett Valley

Fermentation

12 days in ˝ ton open top fermentors; 2 punch downs a day

Cooperage

Aged 13 months in 67% 1 year old French oak and 33% new American oak, Seguin Moreau, Francois Ferres, & Raddoux Appalachian

The Vineyards

Our ’04 Syrah grapes were grown at almost 1000 feet of elevation, directly across from Sonoma Mountain in Sonoma County’s newest American Viticulture Area (AVA), Bennett Valley. This is a cool growing region and the soil is gravelly loam with volcanic rock. A shallow, rocky topsoil of rich volcanic ash from the area’s past volcanic activity contributes heavily to the soil’s makeup. In order to control the excessive vigor characteristic of Syrah, the vines are trained on bilateral cordons. This, coupled with the stressed low-vigor soil, provides an ideal vine canopy and balanced crop load. Each night during the growing season, fog blankets the valley and surrounding low-lying hills, cooling the grapes after the hot summer days. This constant warming and cooling prolongs the growing season, concentrating the flavors and allowing the tannins to fully mature.

The Growing Season

2004 was an extremely warm spring. Consistent, unusually warm weather forced an early bud break that, in some areas, was up to a month early. Almost every growing region, even the coolest, saw some degree of early bud break on the vines. As temperatures remained warm, the crop set matured, then ripened very quickly. Normal patterns of grape ripening, apparent in different varietals, were blurred due to the early heat and light crop. Sugars accumulated faster than flavors, forcing winemakers to make difficult decisions when harvesting: pick the fruit too early and the fruit would be green and vegetative in flavor; pick it too late and the final alcohol level would be too high. We chose to ride out the nervous feelings and let the fruit hang on the vines later to allow the flavors to develop. The 2004 vintage proved to be a balancing act for high quality wines!