2016 Syrah Grenache Mataro

Black berry, pepper, mint and floral notes on nose. Full bodied with dark layered fruit, well coated tannins and a long minerally finish. JO (2/19)

Mild spring weather opened the growing season. The syrah and grenache vines set a balanced crop, but we decided to thin the mataro at veraison to gain intensity. Syrah contributes structure; grenache from 60-year-old vines adds floral notes and mataro brings spice and raspberry fruit to the finish. This appealing syrah based wine will be best over the next four to five years.

This wine comes from two hillside parcels at Lytton West. One is planted entirely to syrah while the other is planted to half grenache and half mataro. A late ripening variety, mataro, synonymous with mourvedre, does not always mature before the onset of fall rains. Typically it is used as a blending variety. In 2016, both ripened fully and we fermented them separately. After malolactic we decided to combine the elegant fruit of the grenache with the earthier mataro and syrah.

Rainfall: 38 inches (about average)
Bloom: Mid-May
Weather: A wet December and January help ease the drought which emphatically ended in March. Cool weather in April reduced our crop a bit. Harvest started early September and finished by mid-month.

Harvest Dates: 6 – 23 September
Grapes: Average Brix 25.0˚
Fermentation: Natural primary and secondary; daily pump-overs; pressed at seven days.
Barrels: 100% air-dried american oak barrels (10% new, 40% two years old and 50% three years old.)
Aging: Twelve months in barrel

Hand-harvested, sustainably grown, estate grapes; destemmed and crushed; fermented on the native yeasts, followed by a full malolactic on the naturally occurring malolactic bacteria; 0.6 g/L tartaric acid addition; oak from barrel aging; minimum effective sulfur for this wine (35 ppm at crush and 96 ppm over the course of aging); pad filtered at bottling. In keeping with our philosophy of minimal intervention, this is the sum of our actions.

Average Rating: 90.3

No. of Tasting Notes: 59

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See all food pairing recipes we have created specifically for this wine.