South Ridge

Although rains early in the season were short of average in 2016, the timingwas ideal for vine health and wine quality. Every phenological marker, including budbreak, bloom, and veraison, occurred 1 to 2 weeks earlier than normal. Syrah buds pushed in mid-March following heavy rains that fell earlier in the month. Vine canopy growth propelled through the spring and was bouyed further by light rains in April. Tannin structure was amplified by a warm veraison period beginning the third week of July, and was followed by ideal ripening weather that brought our earliest blocks of Syrah in the Estrella district to maturity by late August. In the Willow Creek district, even cooler sites that typically ripen at the end of October were picked before the end ofSeptember, at over 29° Brix. Ripe flavors abound in the 2016 vintage!