2014 Cuvee Christine Syrah
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The 2014 Syrah Cuvée Christine comes from 100% Syrah sourced from the Kobler Vineyard in the Green Valley of Russian River and the Lawer Vineyard in Knight’s Valley. Seeing 30% stems and 21 months in one-third new French oak, it has a terrific blend of classic Sonoma Syrah fruit mixed with plenty of gamy, savory, green olive, and Northern Rhône-like nuances. Picking up even some meat, cured ham, and exotic notes with time in the glass, it's medium to full-bodied, has a supple, seamless texture, beautiful balance, and integrated, fine-grained tannins that emerge on the finish. This is a quintessential Sonoma County Syrah that's going to benefit from another 2-3 years of bottle age (although it's far from unapproachable today) and keep for another decade.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Donelan's 2014 Syrah Cuvée Christine is rich, powerful and intense, but like all of these wines, it delivers that intensity in a relatively medium-bodied style. Deeply spiced, floral and savory, the 2014 is super-expressive, even at this early stage. Today, the fruit is a bit in the background, but there is good depth throughout. Fruit sources are Kobler Vineyard (Green Valley) and Lawer Vineyard (Knights Valley), while there is no more Walker Vine Hill in the blend.
Produced using 33% whole cluster and aged for 21 months in French oak, 33% new, the 2014 Syrah Cuvee Christine has a deep garnet-purple color and a great core of black and blue fruits—wild blueberries, black cherries and cassis—with touches of Mediterranean herbs, roses, tar and black earth. Medium-bodied with an elegantly fruity yet intensely flavored palate, it has a harmonious frame of rounded tannins and plenty of freshness, finishing with a perfumed lift. 634 cases were made.