Claire Hill Wines Grist Vineyard Syrah 2022

USA : CALIFORNIA : DRY CREEK VALLEYORGANIC : Syrah, ViognierFULL-BODIED, POMEGRANATE, DARK CHERRY, PICHOLINE OLIVE, WHITE PEPPER, NEUTRAL OAKGrist Vineyard sits atop Bradford Mountain at 1,000–1,200 feet — above the fogline and fifteen miles from the Pacific — on red volcanic Boomer loam farmed organically by the Hambrecht family for four generations. The Syrah block dates to 1983, making it unusually old for California, and it shows: low yields, concentrated fruit, and the natural acidity you can’t manufacture.Claire Hill co-ferments roughly 2% Viognier from an adjacent block planted in 1998 after a nursery misidentification slipped a white variety into what was meant to be all Syrah. Partial whole-cluster fermentation adds white pepper and spice to the finish. The result is a California take on Côte-Rôtie: savory, olive-laced, and lean in the best sense.PAIRINGS : Lamb merguez sausage spice and smoke echo the wine's whole-cluster pepper notes Duck confit with lentils pomegranate freshness and olive depth cut through the fat Morel mushroom risotto earthy, ferrous character of old-vine Syrah is a natural match

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