Syrah-Is it the new Pinot craze?!?

Tobacco Road Cellars: July 27th: It’s easy to have pinot envy ever since the ever so popular movie Sideways. The character, "Miles" deep love for the finiky grape started a wine phenomenon like we've ever seen. Early on, this new-to-California varietal was a hard sell to consumers who weren't already fans of the wines from the Rhone Valley in France, where Syrah has been growing for hundreds of years on the hillsides along the Rhone River from Vienne to Valence. But Pinot Noir is everywhere these days, as the world is discovering the luxurious wines of Santa Barbara County. But just over the hill from the famed Santa Rita Hills appellation, another star is emerging: Syrah from White Hawk Vineyard. Recent private tastings and wine futures discussions are pointing to a possible new star and, it’s that syrah is poised to make pinot noir, and other wines, jealous.
Syrah (also called shiraz in other parts of the world) is hitting its stride here at home. We are seeing a new trend in wine country and it's saying Syrah is very hip. The cool thing about syrah is that it adapts to various growing conditions very well. Syrah grapes have thick skins and it thrives remarkably well in an assortment of different microclimates, from cool areas like Lompoc all the way to the oppressively hot Happy Canyon area, resulting in a wide field of flavors. As one of the best producers of the varietal in Santa Barbara County, Tobacco Road understands that syrah can make excellent easy-drinking wines that don’t break the wallet.
The grape’s ability to thrive in unusual weather and adverse conditions makes it a very forgiving varietal and even in difficult vintages it can still taste great. The reason that our Syrah can flourish in difficult vintages is because it uniquely represents the soil which it came from, which is why we're excited about our 2005 White Hawk Vineyard. We believe that White Hawk is responsible for 90 percent of what's in the bottle. “Will it replace pinot or cabernet?" I don’t know... the good news for our customers is that they can have all three!! Check out www.tobaccoroadcellars.com for more information on how you can try the sampler...Our 2006 Pinot Noir Russian River Valley, 2005 Cabernet ToKalon Napa Valley and last but certainly not least the 2005 Syrah White Hawk Vineyard, Santa Barbara.

2006 Napa Valley Harvest Update

Tobacco Road Cellars: (July 24th) We are experiencing a record heat over the past several weeks has moved our vines along very well. 2006 Was a late start because of the cool and wet spring, but the late heat surge has put us only days behind schedule.

Grapes experience two phases of growth with a resting period, or down time in between. The grapes have finished their first phase of growth, which consists of cellular division. This is a good time to impose a water deficit because this will limit the final size of the berry and thereby increase the concentration of flavors and tannins, particularly desirable in our red wine grapes. Now that we are experiencing heat and the cellular division phase has passed, we are turning on the irrigation.
The berries are now at 'down time.' During the 'down time', there are metabolic activities that change inside the berry, but they do not significantly affect berry weight. The seeds harden and nutrients are being allocated into the berry from the rest of the plant. This is a great time for viticulturists because it gives us our first reliable peak into crop yields. During the down time, the berries are about half of their final weight. Viticulturists can therefore count and weigh clusters to get an idea of the crop yields during harvest. Of course, many things can happen between now and harvest, but this is a reasonable indicator of yield as long as there is no loss to dehydration, sunburn, disease, or other animals such as birds.
The down time assessment also helps us determine how much crop to thin. Concentration and intensity of flavors in wine is generally considered to be inversely proportionate to yield in a reasonable yield range. Lighter crops are generally better quality, although too little fruit can also be problematic. The idea is to get the best vine balance between the vegetation and the fruit production.

The second phase of berry growth is marked by veraison, the onset of maturation in the grapes. This second phase is cellular expansion. Water, sugar, and nutrients begin to fill the berry, and thereby dilute the intense acidity. In red grapes, veraison is very obvious because we see color pigment. In both red and white grapes, the berries soften, become more translucent, increase in sugar content, and decrease in acidity. The tannins also change during maturation to become more soft and supple rather than astringent and green.
We are anxiously awaiting veraison. This year is unusual because all of the varieties are moving through their growth phases at the same time, indicating the possibility of a condensed harvest, especially if warm temperatures prevail for the rest of the season. This year, our Syrah from White Hawk Vineyard in Santa Barbara is coming along nicely & the Russian River Valley Pinot Noir also looks like it will produce an amazing sized crop this year.

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2005 Cabernet Sauvingon To Kalon Vineyards Napa Valley

Tobacco Road Cellars is extremely excited about how our 2005 Cabernet from To Kalon Vineyards in Napa Valley is progressing. We were thrilled with the prospect of not just a great quality harvest, but an outstanding one for vintage 2005. The year began with wet weather, followed by a dry period in March, then continued rainfall well into spring with later than usual bloom and set on the vine. The valley experienced unseasonable precipitation into early June.
The cool weather continued, with a pleasant summer with few heat spikes, which we are currently seeing the same weather pattern this year, (2006). As September approached, growers had concern that the larger than normal crop on the vine would not fully ripen as fog prevailed well into when warm temperatures of Indian Summer typically prevail to harvest. Eventually, though later than normal, the warm days arrived, building much-needed sugars, for our Cabernet.

As harvest began, we had the best of scenarios; an extended hang time with perfectly balanced sugars and acids. Colors in red wines, particularly in our To Kalon Cabernet Sauvignon, were intense, inky-dark and opulent. Visit www.tobaccoroadcellars.com for more information.