Wine from TRINITY COUNTY?

Hyampom Valley-at 1250 feet elevation on the South Fork of the Trinity River. This is the middle of NOWHERE...the nearest town is an hour drive, their website indicates!

MERLO FAMILY VINEYARDS.Merlo is apparently Italian for "Blackbird" and has nothing to do with the Bordeaux varietal in this case. Although they do make Bordeaux varietal wines.

Tasting room is in Clarksburg south of Sacramento.

Anyway, not particularly noteworthy wine, but a wine from Trinity County is certainly somewhat unique.

2009 Merlo Family Syrah. Dark plum, soft acidity with some tannins. Nice sweet fruit. Moderate alcohol, but Alan tasted raisins more than I did. Does not speak much of "Syrah" as there is none of the wild and crazy meatiness or feral quality I like in Syrah. Could not pick it out as Syrah tasted blind, to be honest.

I might score this B-.

[Jenise]

Raisins? That's a feature, to my palate, of many of the zins from Amador County, also on the periphery of Sacramento--that's what makes them distinctive from their cousins elsewhere. Maybe it's in the syrah too?

I didn't get much raisin, to be honest (Alan did). I got more dark plum with a hint of sweetness.

This may be the only winery in Trinity County? This valley is REMOTE, and I don't have any other wines to compare it to w/r/t appellation character