It’s a Syrah Showdown! Today, Sonoma goes head to head with SLO for the title of Golden State champion. And while the two contenders offer wildly different expressions of grape/place synergy, they both floored us for similar reasons. Namely, impeccable pedigree, peak drinking condition, and unbeatable value. First up is Sonoma with Petrichor’s 2014 Estate Syrah.

Reading the stats on this bottle, it’s hard to believe a wine like this even exists, much less that it isn’t some collectible commanding a $60-$80 price tag. This is Sonoma County Syrah farmed organically, made in a winery powered entirely by solar energy, and shepherded from vine to bottle by a team that reads like a contemporary California wine “HOFer” list. Considering it sits at the $40 dollar threshold, this would be a must-have in any vintage. But with almost eight years of age on it, it’s a bottle that frankly every wine lover should be hungrily fighting for. Boisterously perfumed and impeccably balanced on the knife’s edge between black-blue fruit and sanguine savor, this is proof positive the Golden State can hold its own against the best of Saint-Joseph and Crozes-Hermitage. Just don’t expect it to last long!

Petrichor is the sort of project that could only be driven by insatiable passion. The entire vineyard is only 2.5 acres, planted only to Grenache and Syrah. Located in the new Fountaingrove AVA, it’s perched high above the Russian River Valley on the western limit of the Mayacamas ridge. This is the sort of boundary-pushing site and minuscule production that produces the best Syrah in the world: Conventional wisdom might hold that the variety can’t ripen at these high elevations with huge diurnal temperature swings, but that’s exactly what makes this wine so beautiful. It’s a spellbinding marriage of juicy, generous California fruit with a tensile structure only produced in the absolute best sites. 

Matthiasson, Martinelli, Glaab. Those three names are instantly recognizable to California wine aficionados, and all three ply their talents at Petrichor. Steve Matthiasson is maybe the most celebrated viticulturalist in California, a pioneer of regenerative and organic farming methods, which he brings to the Petrichor estate. The on-the-ground work is handled by Lee Martinelli, Jr. The Martinellis are essentially Sonoma County royalty, having farmed grapes in the Russian River Valley since 1887. For over a century, Lee’s family has been an embodiment of Sonoma viticulture, farming everything from own-rooted Zinfandel planted by Lee’s great-grandfather to cool-climate Pinot. And after those two masters grow the fruit, it’s shaped by maybe California’s most dynamic winemaking couple, Ryan and Megan Glaab. With their RYME label, they do everything from Cabernet to Ribolla Gialla, all of it consistently among the most invigorating wine the state has to offer. If you asked us to come up with a California winemaking dream team, you’re pretty much looking at it! 

After fermenting with partial whole clusters, aging in neutral French barrels, and spending the last 6+ years evolving in bottle, Petrichor’s 2014 Syrah is ready to rock out of the gate. Served with a slight chill in Bordeaux stems, it explodes with pitched aromatics of violet petals, crushed raspberry, just-ripe strawberry, blueberry, black cherry pit, lavender, cedar, white pepper, and iron. The palate is fresh yet soft, with medium acidity and fine, sandy, nearly-resolved tannins. More dark berry fruit follows before a wick of sanguine acidity leads to a mineral, iron-laden finish. It’s an extremely elegant, delicately ripe Syrah that can just as easily satisfy Pinot Noir lovers. This is Sonoma Syrah at peak performance, ready to wow anyone who pays the modest price of entry. Cheers!