Fall Release Hoppe-Kelly Vineyard Eddie's Patch Syrah
2010

Winemaker’s Notes

This is a beautiful vintage for our ‘Eddie’s Patch’ Syrah, one quite reminiscent of the 2005 vintage, a wine that continues to add complexity in bottle. This new vintage is all about floral perfumed elegance and balanced suppleness, but the natural density that this vineyard provides ensures the wine will age for at least a decade, adding weight and silky texture as it matures. The effortless purity of vineyard character the wine offers is its finest point. Signature aromas and flavors soar from the glass – cassis, underbrush, bramble and graphite with a tangy balsamic edge. This south-facing, organically-farmed, terraced hillside vineyard was one of our star performers during this cool season. The wine offers the same harmonious balance that the vines displayed during their year’s growth cycle. Wines that hail from such steady, balanced growth are typically those that mature in the most sublime manner, so I expect great complexity and style from this bottling as it winds its way to maturity.

Saturated purple color. Initially fresh and bright: cola, raspberry, cherry and mint then darker olive, blackberry, game and dried herbs. Sweet and savory flavors intertwine nicely on palate – blackcurrant, black pepper, sweet tobacco leaf – drier than the nose suggests. Maintains floral inner mouth perfume. Elegantly framed structure, expanding nuanced finish. Cellar for a year and decant off the sediment for an hour before serving. Drink between 2013 and 2024.

Andy Smith