2023 Jolie-Laide, Syrah, North Coast, California.
Thanks to Alexis Carr, of Revel Wines and Lee Lightfoot, of La Bicyclette in Carmel by the Sea, who generously let me in on a tasting of some new Jolie-Laide releases, including this deep purple/garnet hued North Coast Syrah with its artist “Tarot” label and its delicious cool climate freshness and pure varietal charm, no wonder it is always a favorite of mine. The palate is vibrant, vintage driven in detail and energy, with Northen Rhône like flavors of boysenberry, damson plum, cherry and currant fruits, a nice mineral tone, a whole cluster crunchiness and an array of peppercorn, cinnamon and cedary spice, along with crushed violets and lingering anise. At Jolie-Laide, under the talented hands of winemaker Scott Schultz, most all the grapes here all crushed by foot trodding and then fermented using 100% whole clusters and indigenous yeasts, with a regime of gentle punch-downs and long cool macerations. The Syrah sees only used, almost totally neutral French oak with just about a year of elevate in the wood, all to allow transparency, the year’s nuances and varietal character to shine through, as is the case here to true Syrah delightfulness. Joile-Laide has an interesting collection of offerings, all of which I recommend along with the Syrah, especially their Gamay, Trousseau Blend, Melon and the Mondeuse!
As noted before, the Jolie-Laide label is Scott Schultz’s almost one-man operation based in a Sebastopol, and has gained a reputation for well made and geeky cool wines in recent years, his cool climate style Syrah wines being nothing short of exceptional, crafted using old school traditional methods. The Jolie-Laide wines are authentic efforts and offer loads of class and distinction, all with a clean and transparent profiles. As mentioned in my prior reviews, Scott Schultz moved to Napa from Chicago in 2007 with mostly fine dinning experience in the restaurant business on his resume, which first led him into a position at famous chef Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Bistro in Napa’s Yountville, where he became head of their wine program. Scott fell in love with California wines and gained winemaking experience while working with Arnot-Roberts and Ryme Cellars, two modern new generation wineries, well known for their quality juice, before he joined Pax Mahle at Windgap and Pax Wine Cellars, one of the most famous Syrah producers we have in California. This vintage of the Jolie-Laide Syrah is a blend of their single vineyard Syrahs from Mendocino sites, Hawks Butte and Alder Springs, along with a few rocky schist based hillside Sonoma County vineyards, adding some extra dimension here, don’t miss!
($45 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive