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School House Vineyard, “Mescolanza” Syrah Blend

California, United States 2015 (750mL)
$29.00
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SommSelect

School House Vineyard, “Mescolanza” Syrah Blend

We offer lots of “Old World” European wines on this site, many of them with incredibly long, multi-generational family histories behind them, but let’s not forget about the many ‘legacy’ wine producers in my own backyard: the Napa Valley. School House Vineyard, nestled at 1,500 feet on Spring Mountain, is one such legacy project, with wines that do justice to the rich history behind them.
Never heard of School House? Well, there’s no winery on the property, just a jewel-box vineyard dating to the 1940s and a couple, John Gantner and Nancy Walker, who’ve made their home there and quietly tended those vines for decades. Their wines are vinified at Pride Mountain, one of the many superstar names School House counts as neighbors (others include Keenan, Philip Togni, Lokoya, and Smith-Madrone). They don’t make a big deal about having been up here long before those others, and their wines have mostly been sold to in-the-know wine lovers via their mailing list. Their Pinot Noir vineyard is one of the few of its kind on Spring Mountain (and one of the oldest continuously producing Pinot vineyards in California, alongside Hanzell), but today we’re thrilled to offer this soulful Rhône-styled field blend driven by Syrah. I’m talking dark, meaty, perfumed Syrah from Spring Mountain’s volcanic soils, from a vineyard John and Nancy planted in collaboration with the folks at Pride Mountain. It’s not a massive, extracted Napa mountain red, but rather a wine with the nerve and spice of Northern Rhône Syrahs. If you were to compile a list of California’s greatest vineyards—the true “Grand Crus”—School House would have to be included. Considering all that, along with this wine’s off-the-charts Q.P.R. (quality/price ratio), this is an offer that must not be missed!
Today’s 2015 is called “Mescolanza” (Italian for mixture/mishmash), because the source block for the wine is ‘co-planted’ in 2006 to Syrah (45 rows), Grenache (5 rows) and Mourvèdre (2 rows). Those proportions are such that the wine could technically qualify as a ‘varietal’ Syrah, but it is instead labeled as a blend, with all the fruit co-fermented in true Old World style. The vineyard is effectively a métayage (sharecropping) agreement between School House and Pride Mountain, with the latter taking half the fruit from the site in exchange for vinifying the School House wine in the Pride Mountain caves. 

John Gantner’s father first purchased the property in 1940, the year he was born; it was named for a 19th century one-room schoolhouse that stood on the site until it was destroyed by a fire in the 1980s. At the time of that purchase, there were 35 acres of un-irrigated vineyard planted, making it one of just a handful of commercial vineyards on Spring Mountain at the time. Though an eighth-generation San Franciscan (his great, great, great grandfather, Ignacio Vincente Vallejo, was present at the founding of the San Francisco Presidio in 1776), Gantner made this his home early on, making his dry-farmed vines his life’s work. Both School House and the aforementioned Hanzell produced their first vintages in 1957.

Just 250 cases were produced of this evocative, terroir-driven 2015, which contains about 90% Syrah co-fermented 7% Grenache and 3% Mourvèdre. Bottled unfined and unfiltered, and held in French oak (16 months) and then bottle for an extended period before release (2015 is the “current” vintage for them), this is an authentic, place-driven expression of Syrah, with some sappy fruit and florals contributed by its supporting cast. In the glass, it displays a deep ruby core with hints of purple, with inviting aromas of blackberry, Morello cherry, violets, licorice, black olive, pepper, juniper, and grilled herbs. It is vibrant and medium-bodied, with modest alcohol and lots of freshness driving the sweet/savory flavors on the palate. Also noteworthy is the wine’s impeccable balance, likely an upshot of the extended cellar aging it received before being released for sale: It is deep and memorable but also full of the kind of energy that bodes well for further aging. Serve this delicious red at 60-65 degrees in Burgundy stems after a 30-minute decant and pair it with some ‘Italian-style’ braised lamb shanks. It’s the proper showcase for a wine of such historic pedigree. Enjoy!
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Country
United States
Region
California
Sub-Region
United StatesNapa Valley—Spring Mountain
Soil
Volcanic
Farming
Practicing Organic
Blend
Syrah 90%, Grenache 7%, Mourvèdre 3%
Alcohol
13.8
OAK
Used French
TEMP.
60-65
Glassware
Burgundy Stems
Drinking
Now-2030
Decanting
30 Minutes
Pairing
Lamb Shanks 'Italian-Style'

United States

Washington

Columbia Valley

Like many Washington wines, the “Columbia Valley” indication only tells part of the story: Columbia Valley covers a huge swath of Central
Washington, within which are a wide array of smaller AVAs (appellations).

Oregon

Willamette Valley

Oregon’s Willamette Valley has become an elite winegrowing zone in record time. Pioneering vintner David Lett, of The Eyrie Vineyard, planted the first Pinot Noir in the region in 1965, soon to be followed by a cadre of forward-thinking growers who (correctly) saw their wines as America’s answer to French
Burgundies. Today, the Willamette
Valley is indeed compared favorably to Burgundy, Pinot Noir’s spiritual home. And while Pinot Noir accounts for 64% of Oregon’s vineyard plantings, there are cool-climate whites that must not be missed.

California

Santa Barbara

Among the unique features of Santa Barbara County appellations like Ballard Canyon (a sub-zone of the Santa Ynez Valley AVA), is that it has a cool, Pacific-influenced climate juxtaposed with the intense luminosity of a southerly
latitude (the 34th parallel). Ballard Canyon has a more north-south orientation compared to most Santa Barbara AVAs, with soils of sandy
clay/loam and limestone.

California

Paso Robles

Situated at an elevation of 1,600 feet, it is rooted in soils of sandy loam and falls within the Highlands District of the Paso Robles AVA.

New York

North Fork

Wine growers and producers on Long Island’s North Fork have traditionally compared their terroir to that of Bordeaux and have focused on French varieties such as Cabernet Franc and Merlot.

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