Syrah

The third in a trio of strong vintages for Paso Robles, the wines of 2014 are showing dense and aromatically expressive, and are somewhat reminiscent of the early 2004 vintage. With less than half of the usual winter rainfall in the ground, spring growth rocketed as degree days racked up at a faster pace than we’ve seen in a decade. A somewhat warm veraison period at the end of July pushed tannin levels upward and led to the earliest picking dates on record for most of our vineyard blocks. Achieving sugar ripeness was never in question as we harvested this vineyard block 10 days earlier than ever before. The winemaking challenge was more in retaining balance and fresh fruit character to support the concentrated phenolics that defined the vintage.