Within our portfolio of wines we offer a series of blends and a series of single vineyards. Is one really better than the other? Perhaps for some, but our goal is to make great wine and nothing else.

Cuvees allow us to utilize several vineyards to achieve a wine style that is within the diverse spectrum of Syrah flavors and Rhone varietals or to create blends like the Cuvee Moriah that hearken back to one of our inspirations: Chateaunuf du Pape. The goal of any cuvee is to utilize all the parts, all the colors, to paint a picture or present an offering that is greater than any of the individual parts.

Single vineyard wines will not go into a bottle if they cannot stand alone as complete wines. That is they must have a unique, intriguing aroma profile, a full and balanced mid-palate, and complexity. However we also expect single vineyards to provide unique, even singular characters or markers that seem largely attributable to the fact that the grapes were grown in that location. In other words, we cannot make a Kobler Syrah from Obsidian, and vice versa. Richard’s family vineyard produces one of the most unique Syrah’s we’ve discovered in Northern California and while production is limited, it is a complete wine worth sharing for its uniqueness.

So both single vineyard wines and cuvees have their place in our family of wines, and we hope you enjoy the uniqueness and purpose of each.

The Rhone Varietal Flavor Spectrum
Most great Rhone-inspired and Rhone varietal wines made from Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre, etc. often seem to have a combination of savory elements (meat, spices, herbs) and fruity elements (blackberry, cherry, kirsch). One of our observations regarding our sources is that we have wines that represent the entire spectrum of these flavors, from wines like Kobler that are savory at their core, to Walker Vine Hill and Obsidian whose foundation is largely built upon dark fruit.

Our Winemaking Process

Robert Parker Review of
2007 & 2008 Wines

About Our Syrah Wines