2013cattleya2013 Cattleya, Syrah, Soberanes Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands.
Deep and dense with amazing layers of black and blue fruits the 2013 Cattleya Syrah is one of the best Rhone style California wines out there! Bibiana Gonzalez Rave-Pisoni, the Colombian winemaker and vineyard consultant, is making some stunning wines, her stints in at some of the world’s great estates, including Stephane Ogier in Cote-Rotie, has helped her develop her love of place and to get the best out of each terroir, it shows in her work at Pahlmeyer with her Wayfarer Pinot Noirs from the Seaview/Sonoma Coast as well as the wines she does under her own label Cattleya, in particular her gorgeous Alban clone Syrah from her husband’s (Jeff Pisoni) family vines at Soberanes. I firmly believe, and have mentioned time after time, since 2004 the Pisoni’s and Franscioni’s have farmed some of the best Syrah in the state and that in most vintages the Pisoni/Lucia and Roar Syrah offerings have been just as good if not better than the more noticed Pinot Noir! And certainly if you get a chance to taste this rare Cattleya 2013 Soberanes Syrah you most likely will agree and then some. Soberanes is Pisoni’s youngest vineyard, but it maybe the most impressive, it is extremely rocky and was daunting to plant, Mark Pisoni and his crew deserve a lot of credit getting this special site up and running, they picked the best clones of Pinot (Pisoni clone) as well as old Wente clone for the Chardonnay and chose the Alban clone for the Syrah vines, and now with some meaningful age these vines are delivering on their promise in a big way, like the Pisoni Estate, if you see Soberanes Vineyard on a label, you can also guarantee sublime quality in the bottle, especially true here in Bibiana’s gorgeous Syrah. The 2012 was great, but the texture and length on the 2013 might give it the edge, it shows loads of blackberry, boysenberry, blueberry and plum fruit along with wonderful spice, mineral and brambly earthy complexity with stony detail and hints of game, cedar, licorice, creme de cassis and black olive notes. Violets, cinnamon, camphor and clove also play in the nose and on the background of this purple/black Syrah, there is truly an ode to Cote-Rotie in this beautiful wine, but without question it is Soberanes that gives this wine it’s voice and sexy charms, this is an opulent and seductive Syrah with ripe/firm tannins, nice lifting acidity that was impeccably hand crafted a fantastic winemaker, if you can find it, get it, drink over the next 10 years! By the way, her husband’s version is worth checking out too, wow, what a talented family this is… I have be drinking the Lucia and Roar Syrahs since the first public releases back in 2000, they are stylish and age worthy wines to this day, and this Cattleya takes them to another level, look for it, it deserves to be among the state’s elite set and is!
($70 Est.) 96+ Points, grapelive

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