Friday, May 27, 2011

Racking the '10 Syrah - 5/3/11





Amit, Burt and I got together to rack our group's '10 Syrah. We cleaned the tank, pump and tubing, transferred the wine off its lees to the tank, cleaned the lees out of the barrel, then back to the barrel it went. Then we cleaned again, before sitting down to taste the wine. It's coming along well.

Barton Orchard '10 Syrah Coastview Vineyard (Monterey County)
Sulfur is minimal and color is darker.
Nose - dark, rich, soft, more integrated, lovely black and red fruit from blackberry to cranberry, good smoky character, hint of bacon, clean mineral sense.
Grippy tart blackberry, juicy, a bit of pith and plum skin, good mineral - granite and graphite, hints of meat and mushroom, orange zest. Lighter on the finish, with a touch of bubblegum, purple basil, thyme, violet, savory and passionfruit.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

hey wes - why did you guys rack? curious, since i have a 2010 syrah that i haven't racked yet and i didn't plan to until the day before bottling.

Wes Barton said...

It was a bit stinky. I've read some Syrah producers recommend racking to address that (more so than other varieties).