2008 Horseshoe Vineyard Syrah
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Tasting notes
The 2014 Syrah Horseshoe Vineyard is a magical wine. Interestingly, the Syrah shares much with the Pinot off this site in its structural feel and dark flavor profile. Inky blue/purplish fruit, herbs, crème de cassis, spice, lavender and mint are all beautifully delineated. Beams of supporting tannin give the wine its shape and overall intensity, yet the 2014 retains a super-classic, Santa Cruz Mountains feel of almost deceptively mid-weight structure. The 2014 was done with 100% whole clusters. Malolactic fermentation was done in steel, the wine then spent a year in barrique followed by a year in 25HL cask. What a gorgeous wine this is. (AG)
Critic scores
Average Score
Robert Parker
The Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
Bright purple. Blackberry, cherry and pungent spices on the powerfully scented nose. Sappy and palate-staining, offering potent, impressively deep dark fruit and violet pastille flavors. Surprisingly lithe and silky in texture for all its power. Turns spicier with air and finishes bright, floral and very long. (ST)
The 2009 Syrah Horseshoe Vineyard opens with black pepper, game, creme de cassis and white flowers. Blackberries and blueberries appear later, adding further complexity on the finish. This is a decidedly cold-weather, angular Syrah that needs time in the bottle for some of the contours to soften. (AG)
The 2008 Syrah Horseshoe Ranch (also fermented with 100% stems and aged in 25% new French oak) comes from a parcel planted at a 1,600 foot elevation. While it was impressive from barrel last year, it now reveals more tannin as well as a muscular, masculine, austere, angular, brittle style. Hints of tea, earth and red currants are buried under the hard, sinewy, charmless tannins. This wine may become desiccated unless it fleshes out and reveals more depth of fruit. There is always a delicate balance between the concentration of fruit, ripeness and tannic structure. It is prudent to be skeptical when the tannins dominate a wine’s fruit characteristics so dramatically. It will be interesting to taste this offering in 3-4 years as it is certainly going to last given the acid and tannin profiles. However, I do not know whether it will ever develop much charm or generosity. This relatively new estate in the Santa Cruz Mountains has five vineyards planted at various elevations ranging from a low of 400 feet to 2,200 feet. There are different terroirs and different vineyard spacing (from 6 x 6 to 2 x 3) as well as different soils (alluvial clay/loam for the Family Farm, to fractured shale for the Bearwallow, sandstone and mudstone for the Skyline, shale and volcanic ash for the Horseshoe Ranch, and sandstone and shale for the Alpine Vineyard). The wines are all handcrafted in the truest sense of the word. Of the six 2009 Pinot Noirs, I thought the Family Farm, Horseshoe Ranch and Alpine were the finest. I have some reservations about the tannin levels and potential for drying out in the Swan Terrace and Skyline, but they deserve the benefit of the doubt because there are a lot of good things going on. Tel. (866) 511-1520