Terre Rouge Syrah DTR Ranch

Wine Information
DTR Ranch Syrah is made from grapes planted at our home ranch in 1999. This is the sixth single site bottling of Syrah from this vineyard. It is our coolest Syrah site and it is located on the steep slopes of the Fiddletown appellation. Most of these vines are grown without rootstock. We farm these slate, schist, and quartz-laden soils in a holistic and sustainable manner using just organic compost to amend the soil, owls to keep the rodents in check, in-row cultivation, organic sulphur as a fungicide, and lots of hand labor. As are all of our Syrah’s, the wine is made in a traditional artisan manner. This Syrah is a true reflection of the place the vines live. We picked late in 2012, on November 7th. Fermentation took place in small vats with hand punch-downs. After 10-12 days the must, now wine, was gravity fed to the press, pressed, settled overnight, and racked to French oak cooperage (25% new) to age for 23 months. The wine has delicious and savory Syrah fruit characteristics, great transparency and purity, with a compelling mineral focus from the vineyard site. It drinks well now, but should gain in character and complexity over the next several years.