Estate Vineyard Syrah 2018

94 points. John Gilman, View from the Cellar
“The 2018 Petaluma Gap bottling of syrah from Model Farm is from the couple’s estate vineyard. The wine comes in at 12.5 percent octane this year, was entirely whole cluster fermentation and raised in two hundred and twenty-eight liter, used French barrels. The bouquet is pure, youthful and flat out beautiful, wafting from the glass in a complex constellation of red and black raspberries, smoked meats, pepper, a lovely base of soil, intense notes of lavender, a hint of cedar and a very gentle topnote of violet. On the palate the wine is deep, pure, full-bodied and rock solid at the core, with stunning intensity of flavor and grip, ripe, fine-grained tannins and a long, tangy and very complex finish. The aromatic and flavor profile of this wine remind me very strongly of Gerard Chave’s estate bottling of Saint-Joseph back in the day, but it has far more depth and is a more powerful and mineral wine on the palate than that lovely wine from Domaine Chave’s yesteryears. Great juice.” 2028-2075.

(90-92) points. Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media
“The 2018 Syrah benefits from a much more favorable growing season than the 2017. Bright, fragrant and super-expressive, the 2018 is gracious and light on its feet, yet offers terrific depth. Harvest was a full month later than in 2017. The lasting impression is of a Syrah built on strong aromatic presence.”