2013 Hawks Butte Syrah
Profoundly aromatic with copious red apple, rose petal and California bay, the Hawks Butte Syrah offers a harmonious potpourri of juicy black currant, roses and granite. With a deep purple color and rich concentration, the wine is stunning in the glass. Whole cluster fermentation allows the wine to obtain structure from stem tannin instead of oak, resulting in a lively, broad expressive wine with a soft, velvet texture and intense aromatics. We recommend laying down for 3-5 years.
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Vineyard Notes:
Perched on slopes 1,400 feet above the valley floor in the Yorkville Highlands, this Syrah vineyard is located just shy of the southeastern end of Anderson Valley. Cool nighttime temperatures and rocky soils, reminiscent of the northern Rhône Valley, render a truly site-specific wine bearing pronounced aromatics, blackberries and hints of spice.
Vintage Notes:
The 2013 vintage offered a variety of conditions. A rather dry January gave way to normal winter rainfall. As warmer weather arrived, bud break occurred in early April. Following a moderate summer, the first week of September brought very warm weather, along with a corresponding rise in sugar and malic acid levels. We rushed to pick all our fruit, with Pinot Noir harvest starting on September 9. Our 2013 wines are evocative of our 2006 bottlings, displaying more texture and suppleness due to marginally higher pH levels.e 2012 vintage was a welcome relief following the challenges of 2010 and 2011. A wet winter was balanced by a moderate, slightly dry spring, with bud break and veraison occurring several weeks later than usual. Bestowing optimal conditions for slow, even ripening, a long Indian summer extended into early October. Harvest commenced approximately two weeks later than previous years and was condensed into a few short weeks, with all of our fruit in by November 1.