WTN: 2009 Wind Gap Sonoma Coast Syrah

[David M. Bueker]

Meaty, bloody, a bit salty (!?!) and showing tons of ripe black fruit - this is pretty rich for a "cool climate" syrah, but the balance is good, and it's very easy to drink.

Sounds good. I've found that salty aspect in a couple of fairly traditional Northern Rhones as well (quite recently in a Guillaume Gilles Cornas), but I have no idea what it results from. Certainly adds an interesting aspect to those wines.

[David M. Bueker]

I really need to lay a few of these wines down for several years. I think they can profit from age, but I keep plowing through them. I did pick up a mag of the '09 Sonoma Coast, so that will get the long haul treatment.

We'll see.

Salt is often found in the taste of Syrah wines if they've been handled correctly in the vineyard and in the winery. I was visited in 1989 by Francois and Jean-Pierre Perrin, and in tasting through the wines in barrel they remarked on that note in our Syrahs , how it was typical of the variety in the Rhone, and that it was the first time they'd encountered it in California.

A “blood and salt” description automatically goes together. In humans 85% of our bodily sodium is found in our blood.

Salute