Fruit: 83% Syrah from the Paso Robles area, 17% Merlot from the Los Olivos area in California’s Central Coast viticultural area.

Harvest: Syrah and Merlot were hand picked in mid-October 2005.   Grapes are bin fermented in 1,000 pound macro bins and hand punched down four times per day throughout the fermentation.   Brix: 25.4 ° .   Acid: 0.7 grams/100ml.   Alcohol: 14.5%.

Fermentation: 100% bin fermented

Aging: aged in french and American 59 gallon oak barrels for 20 months

Tasting Notes: The use of small bins and manual punch-downs during the fermentation process has created a wine with intense black fruit character.   20 months of oak aging resulted in a wine with subtle layers of cocoa, anise and bramble.  This wine is drinkable now and will benefit from additional bottle aging.