This Syrah is aged primarily in Hungarian oak and has aromas of black cherry, vanilla, cedar, and white pepper. With your first sip, notice the rich mouth feel, elegant tannins, and round, full structure. On the finish, we like the mocha and smoky oak.
The grapes for this wine are estate-grown on the Nagengast Estate Vineyard in San Miguel California, just east of Paso Robles, on a south easterly facing hillside. The Syrah clones used are 174 and 877. The grapes were destemmed without crushing, fermented in small lots of 1.5 tons, punched down by hand three times per day, and left on the skins for three weeks. This delicate maceration slowly extracts the color and flavor of the grape, without over extraction of harsh phenolic compounds. The fermented grapes were then gently pressed in a small wooden basket press to draw off only the finest of the juices.This wine was primarily aged in Hungarian Oak for 16 months, and racked prior to bottling without any fining or filtration.
Harvest Date: September 23, 2006
Brix at Harvest: 24.6
Vineyard: Nagengast Estate Vineyard, San Miguel CA
