A sensational effort. Made with a touch of stems and brought up in 40% new barrels, it offers C?;te R?;tie-like notes of black raspberries, violets, pepper, bacon fat and tons of rocky minerality. I love its tannin quality, and while it's a full-bodied Syrah, it just glides across the palate with ultra-fine tannin, integrated acidity and thrilling purity, focus and precision. Decant if drinking anytime soon.

For us, identifying a top-notch vineyard is like hearing a great song for the first time. It's immediately identifiable. It has no blue-print for duplication. It won't let go of you. In a word, it is genuine. From these extraordinary vineyards, we produce compelling wines year after year, doing our best to read their cues and allow their terroir to shine. The map below illustrates the depth of our obsession. From the cool-climate, redwood fringed Perli Vineyard in the Mendocino County AVA to a collection of wild sites we love in the Bennett Valley AVA, our journeys across Northern California have been exhaustive ? but they have been so worth it.