Our 2007 Syrah-Cabernet Sauvignon is, in our opinion, possibly our finest effort to date due in large part to the strength of the vintage. This year has been touted by many wine critics as the best of the decade!

We harvested the Cab and Syrah between October 4th - 27th in 2007. Both were fermented in very small 1.5-3 ton open top bins and punched down with great frequency (4 times per day) to deliver dark color and fine tannins. As with most of our red wines, all of this was basket pressed after fermentation. Using the basket press allows us to implement a very gentle press which produces "free run" juice and gives the wine dense, pure fruit flavors. Once pressed, we aged the wine for 20 months in French oak barrels (40% new oak) before racking and bottling. In the end, we used a greater percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon in the final blend than in the past vintages and settled on a cuvee comprised of 50% of each varietal.

This wine exhibits the best of both varietals, showing fantastic dark fruit aromatics of cassis and currant along with intriguing notes of tobacco, allspice, leather, toast and smoke. The palate is big and brooding with blueberry, blackberry and currant fruit flavors backed up by spicy, peppery notes, vanilla and even some earthy nuances. It is all wrapped up in a round, plush mouthfeel that gives way to a long, lingering finish full of gripping tannins that indicate this wine is built for the long haul.

145 Cases Made