About the vineyard

Carneros is an exciting region for syrah. Over the past few years, Las Madres has established itself among the elite. Now into its seventh leaf, we can identify the tell-tale Nicoise olive nose from a mile away. If you want a terroir wine, you'll be hard-pressed to find one more distinctive than this. Planted on a combination of 300 and 174 clones on hillside slopes, it gets plenty of hang time to develop its flavors. The 300 block provides a strong core of forward fruit while the 174 block backs it up with more structured, earthy components. Combining fruit from these two blocks creates greater complexity in the finished wine and can either be vinified together or separately and blended later. The vineyard uses organic practices and is farmed for low yields.

About the wine

• Fruit source Las Madres Vineyard Carneros
• Fruit picked on October 12 2007 Brix 26.5
• Crushed on October 18 2007 partial destem
• Fermentation started October 20 2007
• Fermentation ended October 30 2007
• Pressing started October 30 2007
• Aging in used Seguin Moreau French barrel (one year old)