2006 Atmosphere Wines Syrah, Parmelee-Hill Vineyard, 1 Three Liter Bottle. ONLY SIX PRODUCED!

The Atmosphere in the Vineyard

The Parmelee-Hill Vineyard is uniquely situated between The Les Pierre and Durell Vineyards in the western foothills of Sonoma Valley. The soil is a Los Robles gravely clay loam and the rocky river bottom soil makes all the difference. That same site results in Chard, Pinot, and Zin of exceptional quality. It's very well-drained and the vine roots wind down into the rocks. Although there are several options on the ranch, our choice for Syrah is to focus on blocks planted with Shiraz #1 clonal selections on Schwartzman rootstock. Meticulous management in the vineyard ensures proper vine balance given the conditions of the vintage. Suckering, crop thinning(i.e. one-two clusters per shoot), leaf pulling, irrigation management, and harvest protocols are all methods used by Steve Hill and this team to ensure the vines produce a "Cadillac" of Syrah for the Atmosphere program.

The Atmosphere captured in the bottle

We harvest all of the Syrah in the early in the morning before the sun rises to ensure that we capture the bright acidity and get the grapes to the winery before the temperatures increase. The grapes are crushed slightly by controlling the width of the rollers depending on the size of the berries. We cold soaked this lot for 3 days. The juice was inoculated and the fermentation was steady for 14 days. No extra maceration time was given post fermentation. The free run went straight to barrel and was inoculated with mL. The press lots were kept separate due to increased sugar. After the press was dry it was then inoculated with mL. The lots were combined in June and put back in barrel on their lees to remain in the oak until November resulting in a 12 month aging process. The wine is well structured with fine grain tannin. Aromas of roses and flavors of cherry cola blossom as this wine is exposed to air. The finish is long-lasting and extremely smooth

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