Jus Soli Winery

This is a single-vineyard Syrah from the base of Hood Mountain (aka Mt. Hood), which is north of Kenwood in Sonoma Valley. Winemaker Tom Garrett, like garagiste star Wells Guthrie (Copain), worked for Wine Spectator before going into winemaking. He rocketed up through the ranks, learning the ropes at Turley, Phelps and Mondavi. So when he made this wine, he knew what to do: identify blocks within the four-acre Romano Vineyard where the grapes share flavor and maturity characteristics, vinify those blocks separately, and then blend the blocks back together in the most harmonious proportions. Terroir with technique, if you will.

I could smell the oak in the aromas, framing ripe red plums, red meat and wet earth. I didn’t have time to let the aromas meld more evenly, but that didn’t matter because they did it as flavors the instant the wine was in my mouth. The excellent first impression includes good proportion and balance – the wine’s ripe but not pushed too far, so it’s sweet in the best dry way, particularly at the finish where vanilla bean and blueberry notes give things a late lift. The oak knits into the fruit, especially past the mid-palate, and the tannins are neither overabundant nor overactive. All in all, I would drink on the early side (such as tonight).

Reviewed August 19, 2007 by Thom Elkjer.