La Cruz Vineyard Syrah, 2019
Model Farm
- CountryUSA,
- RegionSonoma,
- ColourRed,
- VarietalSyrah,
93+ points. John Gilman, View from the Cellar
“The La Cruz Vineyard bottling of Syrah from Sean and Joanna Castorani is a touch riper than their estate vineyard bottling, as the La Cruz Vineyard is a bit further inland in the Petaluma Gap and does not have the same constant winds here. But, a touch riper is still only 13.3 percent in the 2018 vintage, with the wine again all whole clusters and raised in five hundred liter, older French casks. The wine is more black fruity on the nose than the estate vineyard version, offering up a nascently complex bouquet of cassis, black raspberries, pepper, black olive, hung game, a touch of garrigue and just a whisper of cedar. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, focused and utterly classic in profile, with a superb core, fine mineral drive, ripe tannins and a long, nascently complex and perfectly balanced finish. This is a bit broader-shouldered in personality than the estate vineyard bottling this year, but it is an equally superb example of first class syrah. It really reminds me of a young Côte-Rôtie from a vintage like 1978!” 2028-2075.
(90-93) points. Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media
“The 2018 Syrah La Cruz Vineyard shows a much deeper and richer expression of the Petaluma Gap than the straight Syrah. Layers of nuance and texture reveal themselves with a bit of air. Rich, pliant and explosive, with superb mid-palate depth, the La Cruz is so promising. Black pepper, game, wild flowers and savory overtones from the clusters are all beautifully delineated. This is such a pretty wine.”
Producer: Model Farm
Model Farm produces single vineyard wines in Sonoma, California, seeking out compelling sites of unique terroir while maintaining our core values of sustainable farming and honest winemaking. We produce our wines using minimalist, old-world techniques. All wines are fermented with native yeasts, no additives, additions or adjuncts, and none see new oak.
LA CRUZ VINEYARD La Cruz, a sustainably certified vineyard, incorporates practices derived from organics, permaculture, and biodynamics that were learned over the years since the vineyard’s inception in 1989. These practices include bee-keeping, owl and bat boxes, a flock of over 200 sheep that graze and fertilize our land, and careful management of the pond system that ensures our water supply. As with all of our wines, we employ minimalist winemaking techniques to protect the integrity of terroir. 100% native fermentation, 100% whole cluster, no additions or additives, bottled unfined and unfiltered with minimal effective SO2.
ESTATE VINEYARD Our Petaluma Gap Syrah is farmed exclusively by the two of us. We chose the ambitious task of farming our vineyards ourselves in order to better understand the intimate, complicated relationship between vineyard and wine. All of our vineyard practices are organic, and we farm by hand, without the use of a tractor to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. No herbicides or fertilizers are used and no-till farming helps to preserve soil diversity. All weed control is done by hand. This attentive, hands on farming style allows us to be hands off in the cellar. 100% native fermentation, no additions or additives, bottled unfined and unfiltered with minimal effective SO2.
Organic and Sustainably Farmed Vineyards, Non-additive Winemaking, Minimal Effective SO2, Used Oak Barrels, Non-Filtered Wines, Vegan, Non-GMO, Gluten Free,