96 Pts
Each year, I feel Yves and I get closer to achieving the vision we have had for this project. I have always felt that this vineyard brings a very Hermitage aspect to the table.
Aromatically this wine explodes out of the glass with a sensual, slightly savory, dark chocolate and white floral notes.
A Collaboration project with Yves Cuilleron from the Northern Rhône Valley, our 8th Vintage. Aromatically this wine explodes out of the glass with a sensual, slightly savory, dark chocolate and white floral notes. The palate is loaded with sweet cream, black berry and black cherry with a hint of fresh vanilla, toast and roasted Herbs de Provence. This wine flows from a very giving front palate to a mid-palate that really showcases the minerality of the vineyard. Multi-layered with sweet tannins that take the wine to an incredibly long finish showing flavors of black cherry, olive tapenade, fresh vanilla bean and dark roasted coffee.
In 1991, Rod and Cathy Park converted a dilapidated former sheep ranch into Rockpile Vineyard. The vineyard has clay, loam and granite quartz soils. The granite adds a mineral backbone to the weight that the clay creates in the wine. Rockpile is one of the smallest AVAs in the nation, producing ultra-premium hillside fruit.
At 2010-ft. elevation, the vineyard sites are hilly and of course, rocky. Above the fog line, the vineyard's terroir stresses the vines, but the average temperature range from 50 - 80 degrees provides for a wonderful growing season, allowing for full ripening. The soil composition of granite, loam, clay, and quartz gives the fruit a strong mineral component. Altogether, this vineyard yields amazing fruit.
I began working with this sustainably farmed vineyard in 1998 and still love it because I know Syrah planted at high elevations in rocky soils is a match made in heaven. Each Rockpile Syrah is truly unique in its depth and profile.
