As we entered our third year of production, we found ourselves in a position of searching for a new vineyard. We wanted a vineyard that would enable us to produce a rich, quality wine, much like the wine we had produced in our two previous vintages with grapes from Bennett Valley. Luckily, we were able to find two sites that met our needs and wishes—one in the Dry Creek Valley appellation of Sonoma County, and one in the Coombsville area of Napa.

Each vineyard site possesses its own unique growing conditions, or terroir, which give the fruit unique flavors and characteristics. In Napa, the Coombsville site is at 800 feet of elevation on rocky stressed soil, which really limits the vines’ vigor and creates a natural cropping balance allowing the fruit to ripen evenly and fully. The mornings are warm and sunny, while the afternoons often turn breezy and cool. The cooler weather conditions, together with the elevation and soil, allow the grapes to ripen slowly. Grapes that are grown in cooler climatic conditions will exhibit different flavor and aroma characteristics than when they are grown in warmer areas. Some examples of “cooler climate” Syrah grapes are aromas and flavors of cracked peppercorn and grilled meats.

In contrast to the Coombsville site, the Dry Creek Valley site experiences hot days that cool down dramatically when the fog rolls in at night. These temperature swings cause the grapes to develop evenly, but at a faster rate than the cooler Coombsville area. This warmer growing area produces wine with more forward, fruity flavor, with dark berry and jam aromas and flavors. The vineyard is situated on a gently rolling hill with deep alluvial soil. The vines grow vigorously here due to the rich soil and they need aggressive trellising systems to keep the ratio of the vines’ canopy and the fruit produced in balance, which is a key component of fruit quality.

When we fermented the wines from both the Coombsville site and the Dry Creek Valley site, the differences were immediate and striking. The Napa Syrah, grown in the cooler climate, has more “old world” or traditional Syrah characteristics of cracked pepper, grilled meats and gaminess. The Dry Creek Valley Syrah, grown in the warmer climate, has more “new world” characteristics, with the aromas and flavors of blackberry pie, Bing cherries and molasses.

As the two wines aged, we valued the depth and the stylistic differences of each one. They both represented the stylistic differences one would expect from these two distinct viticulture areas. But, we couldn’t help but wonder if blending these two unique styles together would produce a more complex wine that accentuates the best components of each individual wine After tasting the wines blind (not knowing what we tasted) repeatedly over the course of a month, we kept coming to the same conclusion- although the wines were excellent individually, they were even better blended together!

We decided that we would blend the Napa Valley Syrah and the Dry Creek Valley Syrah together to produce our North Coast Syrah. By taking this step and blending the wines together, we were ultimately making a superior wine, but losing the ability to have the more prestigious appellations of Napa Valley and Dry Creek Valley on the labels. Our goal was to make the best wine possible; we feel we have accomplished this with the Baldassari 2005 North Coast Syrah!

Salute!

Click here to read about the 2004 Syrah
Click here to read about the 2003 Syrah