2018 Three Pines Syrah

From a single vineyard, Three Pines, planted just above the Cabernet. Just 22 rows, older vines, 100% Syrah. Hand-picked, hand-sorted and fermented in open tanks with hand-punchdowns throughout. Matured for 20 months in small French oak, 40% new. 3,330 bottles were produced. Long and cool. Extraordinarily elegant. Deep saskatoon and raspberry fruit. Pressed pepper and petals and menthol spices. Serious, with gravitas, but no weight. Elvin, in a way, yet a sense of power. Stones. Stones. Stones. There is something silently urgent about this wine; helical, cursive tannins drawing a slow but exquisitely tempered structure, dipped in old ground-stone ink. Persistent. Like holding your lips to the beat of the pulse of the strong neck of someone you love and breathing in the cool scent of their skin. Moss and stones. Restrained power. (TC)