Ideally a grape variety is planted in its perfect place. A place that suits that particular variety perfectly. For example, Syrah planted on top of a mountain, cooled by morning fog and breezes from a valley that opens to the ocean, then warmed by afternoon sun before the breezes pick back up again in the afternoons to cool the grapes back down. In other words, the Zayante Vineyard in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The vineyard sits up at 1160 feet of elevation, on sandstone, shist, and shale soils. The vines are grown organically and dry-farmed. Furthermore, the farmer, Prudy Foxx, is an old friend, who worked with Jill back when she was in grad school studying cover crops, in the late 80s. To capture the Syrah spice, we used 100% whole clusters in the fermentation. The whole clusters also gave us plenty of structure and depth. We fermented in a small open top bin, with two punch downs per day. We gently pressed just after dryness, and aged the wine in neutral puncheons for 10 months. The pH is 3.77 the TA is 6.6 g/L, and the alcohol is 12.5%. Only 130 cases produced. The Zayante Syrah is dense and varietal, with lots of savory characters along with the blackberry and spice. It’s a deeply colored, almost brooding Syrah, powerful, but with that Matthiasson trademark precision and elegance.