MONTICELLO Syrah | 2014
Estate Grown, Oak Knoll LIBRARY
Currently Available
Wine Specs
Vintage
2014
Varietal
Syrah
Appellation
Oak Knoll District
Alcohol %
14.2
Wine Profile & Ratings
Tasting Notes
Upon first opening, the wine has a wonderful
spicy forest floor tone on the nose which evolves into dark and peppery black berry
fruit aromas. These aromas are enhanced by toasted vanilla and caramel notes with
hints of floral and light herb tones. On the palate, the wine is rich yet lively on the
attack. A full-bodied mid-palate with well-structured tannins frame the wine nicely
into the finish. The finish itself is long, with medium grain tannins and lingering
flavors of boysenberry, blackberry, pepper, and vanilla.
Vineyard Notes
Our excellent success in growing merlot and cabernet franc on our estate along with what was
then the very recent availability of several special clones of syrah from the Rhone Valley in
France.
Our Syrah is planted at our Knollwood Vineyard just ‘across the road’ from our main estate.
The Syrah is planted on #101-14 rootstock and is cane pruned with vertical shoot positioning on
a 4.5 acre block.
Our planting design has provided us with very well balanced grapevines and coupled with our
meticulous farming practices has produced excellent fruit quality. Our vineyard yields have
ranged from about 2 tons to 4 ½ tons per acre.
Production Notes
Our two blocks of 2014 Syrah, clones 174 and 470, were hand-picked then
further sorted on the crush pad and co-fermented. Fermentation lasted 14 days with
draining and pressing at dryness. We used a moderately aggressive yeast, but kept
the fermentation cool to moderate the extraction. The wine was aged in oak barrels
for 24 months.