2016 Rotie Cellars Northern Blend
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Tasting notes
Road tar, smoked black fruits, green olive, and loads of meaty, gamey notes emerge from the 2016 Northern Blend, which is 95% Syrah and 5% Viognier that was co-fermented and aged in used barrels. This big, sexy, exotic effort just screams Syrah and is full-bodied, has terrific depth of fruit, polished tannins, and just overflowing amounts of character and charm. Drink it any time over the coming decade or so.
Critic scores
Average Score
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
(the pH here is between 4.05 and 4.1, according to Boyd): Dark red with ruby tones. Smoky, savory nose dominated by gunflint and spices. Fat, rich and mouthfilling, conveying a strong smoked meat quality, with aeration bringing more blackberry and blueberry fruit. This wine does not have quite the class or lift of the Southern Blend and will rely more on its tannins for aging. Incidentally, this is the first time this bottling was made entirely from Sean Boyd's vineyard in The Rocks; he bought an old apple orchard in 2006, tore it out the next year, and eventually planted 8 acres of Syrah and 0.5 of Viognier in 2012. Boyd also planted 7.5 acres of Grenache here in 2015. (14.4% alcohol)