2016 Descendants Liegeois Dupont - Syrah
Tasting notes
A stellar Syrah. A wonderful balance of sweet and savory, fruity and smoky. There is a hint of tart reddish blue fruits, some graphite, toasted spices, crushed graham cracker and rosemary shortbread. Flavors of toasted spice and blueberry muffin are lifted into your mouth with a bright acidity and then they linger on your palate with a long and balanced finish. This wine is refined and worldly, but with a distinct sense of place.
Grapes are from Les Gosses Vineyard, which is in the Red Mountain AVA, and has both the Joseph Phelps and Tablas Creek clones. The wine was destemmed and partially crushed into stainless steel fermenters where it was pumped over twice daily until desired tannin extraction was achieved. It was then pressed to barrels where it underwent malo-lactic fermentation, then racked off lees and 100% barrel aged for 19 months in 48% new American (90%) and French oak (10%).
Harvest Notes: 2016 had a very mild and warm winter followed by a wet Spring with a few heat spikes early on in May. Summer had an average amount of heat, but nothing like what we saw in 2015. A few rain events throughout the growing season made regulating irrigation water a bit tricky. The first part of harvest had mild heat which made for steady and even ripening of the fruit. The end of harvest was hit with off and on rain for a few weeks, which really slowed things down and stretched out picking dates. The 2016 harvest resulted in large crops with impressive fruit quality.
| Vintage | 2016 |
| Varietal | Syrah |
| Varietal Composition | 100% Syrah |
| Appellation | Red Mountain |
| Vineyard | Les Gosses |
| Acid | 5.3 g/L |
| PH | 3.90 |
| Aging | This wine is lovely now but, like other Red Mountain wines, should age well, probably peaking in 5 years, but still very drinkable at 10 years old. |
| Alcohol | 14.50% |
| Volume | 750 ml |
| Bottling Date | 03/13/2018 |
| Cases Produced | 800 6 pack cases, 750ml bottles |
93 pts - James Suckling
91 pts - Jeb Dunnuck
