Failla : Fort Ross-Seaview Estate Vineyard Syrah 2013

A Cool Climate Syrah with Spiced Black Fruit Aromas

Failla Wines was founded in 1998 by Ehren Jordan, a winemaker inspired by his experiences working at Neyer Vineyards in Napa Valley, Turley Wine Cellars on the Sonoma Coast and at Jean-Luc Colombo in the Rhone Valley of France. In that year, Failla Wines had its first release, a Viognier from Edna Valley and a Syrah from the Sonoma Coast, both made with grapes sourced from trusted winegrowers of the region. Failla also began a Pinot Noir program, which gradually grew to include the wide array of single-vineyard expressions offered today. In 1998 Ehren Jordan purchased the first two blocks of a vineyard in Fort Ross-Seaview, a recently recognized sub-AVA within the Sonoma Coast AVA, where he now produces Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Syrah on 11 acres of land. The vineyard is farmed using organic practices, with the addition of compost and oyster-shell lime. The team plants nitrogen-fixating cover crops among the vines to encourage natural biodiversity and maintain soil health. The vines are dry farmed, with vineyard water from natural springs moved hundreds of feet uphill with solar power.

This rugged terroir is the place of origin for the Failla Fort Ross-Seaview Estate Vineyard Syrah, a wine grown in American soil but inspired by winemaking techniques Ehren learned in Cornas. The grapes come from Syrah vines that are, on average, 20 years old. They undergo alcoholic fermentation with 100% whole clusters and native yeasts. After this first fermentation, the wine is basket-pressed into barrel, where it undergoes malolactic fermentation, also with native yeasts. Next, this Californian Syrah spends 11 months maturing on its lees in French oak barriques, of which 25% is new. The wine is not fined or filtered before bottling.

In the glass the Failla Fort Ross-Seaview Estate Vineyard Syrah 2013 presents a deep, purple-red color. On the nose, the wine reveals seductive aromas of spiced black fruit, herbs and touches of lavender. Beautifully layered and complex, the wine brings flavors of plum, blackberry, liquorice and freshly cracked black pepper on the palate, which stretch forth into a generous and long finish.