2003 Laraine Syrah

Winemaker's Notes

Our 2003 Laraine Syrah is ready to release! This is our second Syrah release from Gerber Vineyards. Syrah is the most widely planted red varietal in the Rhone region of southern France and also known as Shiraz in Australia. It grows best in warm to hot regions and produces a wide range of stylish wines which can be rich and syrupy in texture, to wines which are ripe, spicy and delicate.

2003 was the third crop of our Syrah planting, and as time goes by, we are learning more each year about the vineyard and picking the fruit at optimum ripeness without producing wine with an overabundance of alcohol. Too high a level of alcohol will overpower the fruit character and leave the wine unbalanced. in 2003, we picked the fruit at a higher sugar content than in 2002, and achieved a wine with more fruit character and a fuller mouthfeel.

The fruit was de-stemmed but not crushed and moved as whole berries to the fermentation tank. Following a cold soaking period of 3 days, the tank was inoculated for fermentation. The tank was pumped over 2 times a day for 10 days. After an additional 5 days on the skins, the wine was pressed out and transferred to a combination of new and used French oak barrels, where it was aged for 16 months.

This young Syrah has the aroma of fresh berries and the characters of toasty oak. In the mouth, the wine is full and rich with flavors of cherries, raspberries, cassis and cinnamon.