Donelan Richards Family Vineyard Syrah 2013
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Robert
Parker
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Winemaker Notes
Flavors on the nose stretch from black currants and truffles to foie grad and grilled lamb. On the palate, the wine is full, mouth-coating and tempting.
Ideal pairings include grilled rack of lamb or pappardelle ragù.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Produced using 80% whole cluster and aged for 28 months in French oak, 33% new, the 2013 Syrah Richard's Vineyard has a deep garnet-purple color and a wonderfully meaty/earthy nose of prosciutto, underbrush and tapenade with a core of crushed black currants, black cherries and tar, plus hints of Provence herbs and garrigue. Full-bodied, rich and concentrated, this wine manages to have beautiful finesse with a gorgeous multi-layered palate and fine frame of rounded tannins intermingled with the chewier stem tannins to give great support, finishing long and spicy. 466 cases were made.
Other Vintages
2008-
Wine
Enthusiast
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Robert
Parker
At Donelan, they believe that the best wines are not made but discovered and they take pride in the responsibility and privilege of distilling for your pleasure the greatest qualities and natural variations in a vineyard and a variety. They start with great terroir, because site trumps all variables, and then proceed with extreme selectivity, conscientious winemaking, and extensive blending trials.
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”
Perhaps the most historically significant appellation in Sonoma County, the Sonoma Valley is home to both Buena Vista winery, California's oldest commercial winery, and Gundlach Bundschu winery, California's oldest family-run winery.
It is also one of the more geologically and climactically diverse districts. The valley includes and overlaps four distinct Sonoma County sub-appellations, including Carneros, Moon Mountain District, Sonoma Mountain and Bennett Valley. With mountains, benchlands, plains, abundant sunshine and the cooling effects of the nearby Pacific, this appellation can successfully produce a wide range of grape varieties. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Gewürztraminer, and most notably, Zinfandel all thrive here. Ancient Zinfandel vines over 100 years old produce small crops of concentrated, spicy fruit, which in turn make some of the Valley's most unique wines. These can also be made as “field blends” (wines made from a mix of grape varieties grown in the same vineyard) along with Petite Sirah, Carignan and Alicante Bouschet.