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Acclaim for Syrah

Awards

Vintage 2005:
  • Excellent - Frederic Koeppel - 03.23.2009

     I took the Renaissance Vineyard & Winery Syrah 2005, Sierra Foothills, North
    Yuba, a superb example of the grape and of the individual style of winemaking from this producer, to my friends on Sunday. The bouquet is dusky and bosky, an entrancing wreathing of dust and leather, flint and granite, macerated, spiced and stewed black currants and plums and a hint of violets. In the mouth, flavors of mulberry and blueberry are brought in, along with touches of fruit cake, briers and brambles and a slightly mossy, earthy strain of dried porcini. The wine is dense and chewy, warm and enveloping, luscious and juicy yet with a pervasive tannic element that provides depths of gravity and foundation. The oak regimen here is fascinating. The wine ages two years in one-to-six-year-old barrels, and then nine months in neutral — that is long-used — large casks; the result is a wine of tremendous presence and power and tone yet one in which wood itself feels almost invisible. This should drink beautifully — and was wonderful with the pot au fer — through 2014 or ‘15. As is always the rub with products from Renaissance, availability is an issue; production of this wine amounted to a whopping 356 cases, so put out feelers, send telegrams and email messages, make those phone calls. Excellent. About $35  

  • Jeff Cox, wine writer for Decanter, many wine and food books
    ‘Hi Gideon--I had your 2005 Syrah last night and must congratulate you on one of the best--if not the best--California Syrahs I've tasted. It smelled like Syrah. It tasted like Syrah. Wonderfully pure and varietally correct. So many California Syrahs are just featureless red wines. Not yours! --Jeff ‘
     


    Jeff Cox - 05.29.09
  • Link to award

Vintage 2004:
  • Excellent - Frederic Koeppel - www.koeppelonwine.com - 02/29/08

    First note: “Whoa, that’s good.” This is a deep, rich syrah, packed with detail and dimension from beginning to end. Spiced and macerated black currant, black cherry and plum fruit is permeated by cloves, sandalwood and licorice and hints of blueberries ‘n’ cream, vanilla and bittersweet chocolate. The texture is robust, the oak polished and burnished, the tannins dense and chewy; the finish brings up more spice and elements of briers and brambles, though nothing austere, nothing outside the protocol. The Renaissance Syrah 2004 is made in an old-fashioned manner; the yeast is natural, and the grapes are fermented in open-top containers and the mass of skins that floats on top of the fermenting juice is punched down by hand. The wine ages 26 months in barrels and puncheons that are one to six-years-old; the wine see NO new oak. No sulfur dioxide is added during the maturing process. Production is 153 cases. Drink now through 2015 or ’16. Well-worth tracking down, as are all these releases from Renaissance Vineyard & Winery.

  • Gold Medal - Amenti Del Vino 2008
  • Double Gold Medal - California State Fair - 2008
  • Best of Class Sierra Foothills Appellations - California State Fair 2008