Tasting Notes: Mouthwatering and savory, this wine has distinct notes of black and white pepper that mingle with flavors of smoked bacon fat, dried Italian herbs, white smoke, and flint. Lush blueberry compote rounds out the fruit, and the balance of acid and tannin lend to the wine’s harmonious structure.
Winemaking: Native yeast. 75% whole-cluster fermentation in small, open-top fermenters. Aged in neutral French oak barrels for nine months with regular lees stirring.
Technical Details:
Composition: 100% Syrah
Vineyard: Valenti
Appellation: Mendocino Ridge
Clones: Durell, Chave
pH: 3.74
TA: 5.8 g/L
Brix at harvest: 21.5
Alcohol: 13.4%
156 cases produced
93 Points - Wine & Spirits Magazine
"Best Buy"
"Brad Jonas, a coastal Mendocino native, is the assistant winemaker at Toulouse Vineyards in Anderson Valley. His wife and partner, Miriam Pitt, handles wine accounts at J.A.M. PR. And Kyle Jeffrey, their partner in Minus Tide, is winemaker at Woods Beer and Wine in San Francisco. The three met at Cal Poly, began making wine together in 2015 and launched Minus Tide in 2017. Jeffrey and Jonas make this syrah from Valenti, a vineyard planted in 2001 on the uplift of an ancient seabed six miles from the contemporary Pacific. They ferment the fruit spontaneously, with a lot of the clusters intact (75 percent), then age it in neutral French oak, presenting a bright and lively syrah. It starts with a faithful reproduction of the coastal stink of that marginal site before that reduction blows off and the scent turns toward fresh thyme, orange blossoms and forest mushrooms. The savory fruit hints at Kalamata olives underscored by smoky mineral tannins. Delicious if you decant it now, this will benefit from a year or two of rest in your cellar."
16.5 Points - Jancis Robinson
"Distinguished"
"100% Syrah. First vintage. One of the coolest Syrah vineyards, planted in 1998 six miles from the coast at 1,300–1,600 ft. A vineyard that can ripen at 19 to 20 Brix. Picked 30 October! Very cool site. Just 2 acres of Syrah in a Pinot and Chardonnay vineyard. 75% whole bunch. Aged in neutral French oak. Smells of ripe Syrah. A little bit of rotundone but smooth and juicy. Lots of sweet fruit. Finishes dry. Not too austere. Drink 2020 – 2024"
