Sarah's Vineyard 2013 Syrah, Besson Vyd., Santa Clara Valley

Here's a rare an exciting red that's ordinarily only available at the winery tasting room. The Besson Vineyard sits just outside of the Santa Cruz Mountains appellation, on the ‘Hecker Pass' linking Santa Cruz to Gilroy. Planted in 1922, this historic vineyard was made famous years ago by Randall Grahm’s ‘Clos de Gilroy’. Owned and farmed by third generation farmer George Besson Jr, these amazing head-trained vines are spaced 8’x 6’ on a gravelly clay loam soil, and continue to be dry-farmed and organic. They produce deeply concentrated, intensely flavored grapes. The 2013 vintage was the first in a series of drought years on the Central Coast. Grapes were hand harvested and destemmed, the whole Syrah berries went directly into the fermentor. They “cold soaked” at 55 F degrees until the onset of a robust, native fermentation and were then inoculated and fermented to a peak temperature of 85 F degrees. Punch downs of the cap were done by hand, three times a day. All these careful techniques had the aim of maintaining the superb fruit and spice aromas and flavors. The wine was aged for 18 months in French oak barrels, 20% new. Additional bottle age has rendered the tannins soft and silky. The nose displays dark plum / cherry aromas, with violet potpourri, honey bbq sauce, and black pepper. The palate complements the fruit aromas with a touch of bacon fat and dried herb notes. Only 225 cases were produced!