Bonterra Vineyards

For fans of Bonterra, a Mendocino-based winery that exemplifies what’s possible with organically grown fruit and biodynamic viticulture, this is a good-news wine. The label has produced a string of very good vintages for its white wines, ranging from the expected (Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc) to the unexpected (varietal Roussanne and Marsanne). The reds also have done consistently well, but I have been waiting for a Syrah, a variety that should shine in Mendocino’s higher-elevation, rocky-top vineyards. I did recommend the 2004 as one of the better $15 Syrahs coming out of California, but that was before a glut of value-priced premium Syrahs flooded the market. (By the way, if you find the 2004, it’s drinking even better now.) These days it takes something more than a nice price to stand out in the Syrah market, and the 2005 brings it.

One of the keys to this wine is the biodynamically farmed Butler Ranch, which is the kind of high-elevation, sloping vineyard Mendocino Syrah deserves. The vines planted here early in the decade are just coming into prime bearing years – something that matters with Syrah because at its best it should offer the kind of complexity that keeps your palate happy for hours.

The 2005 Bonterra Syrah gets almost a third of its fruit from Butler Ranch, and also gets about 16 percent of its fruit from other varieties, including traditional blending partners Grenache and Viognier (that’s right, a white grape). The fruit is black and blacker: cherries and berries. The chocolate flavours are dark. Even the tannins feel dark, like black velvet. The sweeter vanilla notes keep sparking through the wine deep into the finish, and the acidity is bracing, almost citric. If you have room, I’d put some of this down for a year or two. If the 2004 is any guide, the 2005 will keep knitting itself together in the bottle, ultimately delivering the intellectual complexity and palate satisfaction that we want from Syrah – whatever the price.

Reviewed June 11, 2008 by Thom Elkjer.