Pride Mountain Vineyards Syrah 2018, Sonoma County, California

The 2018 Syrah is made up of 95% Syrah, 3% Viognier and 2% Grenache. “With its blackberry, mulberry, Niçoise olive, cured meat, truffle and white pepper notes, popping the cork on this wine is like enjoying a charcuterie plate. The mouthfeel is pure pleasure with fully-integrated supple tannins coating the palate with velvety richness but no chalky grip. Building flavor and texture in our Syrah is all about layering. As is traditionally done in the Northern Rhone, we co-ferment a portion of our Syrah with Viognier grapes, which adds aromatics and also intensifies the wine’s deep purple hue. We also do some whole cluster fermentations to develop spicy notes and enhanced mouthfeel. Starting with 2018, we are now incorporating a small touch of Grenache. These wine lots were aged individually for 11 months in neutral French oak barrels, racked and blended in August 2019, and then aged for another five months prior to bottling.