2017 Joyce Wine Company, Syrah, Tondre Grapefield, Santa Lucia Highlands.
Russell Joyce’s beautiful new releases continue to impress and this latest Syrah effort from Tondre Grapefield in the Santa Lucia Highlands is one of the best pure Syrah wines to date from the winery and the region putting it up in same league as Roar and Lucia with maybe a slighter lighter touch, but with absolutely gorgeous detail and medium bodied texture. 2017 is proving a great vintage for Joyce, adding to their stellar run of recent vintages, and while their Pinot Noir lineup is exceptional, digging deeper into their set up wines brings a lot of unique treasures including their fresh dry Riesling, a crisp Albarino, an awesome old vine Chenin Blanc and this perfumed and delicately spiced Syrah, this a winery on a great run and on a high. This vintage saw a bit more whole cluster than prior versions, maybe 30% or more in total, but the stems are wonderfully muted behind the amazing purity of fruit and floral notes with a layering of blackberry, creme de cassis, sweet plum and blueberry compote along with an array of herbs de Provence, peppercorns, anise, violette pastel and a light sense of earth, mineral and cedar. Joyce used small open top fermenters where they were cold soaked for about a week before fermentation began naturally with native yeast, with primary fermentation going for a couple of weeks before it was pressed to barrel. The Tondre Syrah, which has a stylish and rich mouth feel was raised in 100% neutral French oak barrels where it finished malos and the wine was left to age sur lie for close to a year before being bottled unfined and unfiltered to preserve its fresh and natural flavors, very much in classic northern Rhone style, and I love this stuff, it is a wonderful value too, and should get even better over the next 3 to 5 years, this brilliant red is one to stock up on. There is a lot to admire in this and all the current releases at Joyce, and things are even more exciting for the years to come, look for some really limited bottlings next year, Monterey County’s new generation has come of age, no question!
($28 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive

By admin