Keller Estate

I don’t usually describe wines this dark as “lovely,” but I can’t help it: the black cherries and berries mingle seductively with black coffee and dark chocolate accents, and polished ripe tannins give the wine a fine European glide to go with its firm American grip on your tongue. There’s leather and cedar and pepper in there too. A real mouthful.

The wine is from Sonoma Coast, but don’t get visions of crashing waves in your head. Keller Estate is on Lakeville Highway, where the Petaluma River meanders down through a delta to the northwestern end of San Francisco Bay. It’s inland, and while the temperature can climb up into the triple digits during a heat storm, it’s generally so cool and wet that winemaker Michael McNeill calls it “Carneros West.” On the other hand, few spots in Carneros (Trouchard comes to mind) could produce Syrah this dark and inviting. I would give it some air if you drink now, or hold another year in bottle.

Reviewed September 26, 2006 by Thom Elkjer.