Sibling Rivalry, Napa Syrah vs. Sonoma Sryah.

 The third tasting in our series was all about Syrah.   Syrah doesn’t really face a challenge with geography as much as it faces the challenge of recognition.  While people clamor to fill their glasses with Cab, Zin, Pinot, or Petite Sirah, they often bypass Syrah.  We hope that this Sibling Rivalry not only helped everyone discover new and wonderful wineries in Napa and Sonoma as much as it helped people discover how delicious and wonderful Syrah can be.

We pre-judged 20 wines.  The top 5 Napa Syrahs and top 5 Sonoma Syrahs  made it to the judges’ table at the event held at Roadhouse Winery in Healdsburg where we had a panel of 8 talented judges.  The  top Syrahs to make it to the judges’ table are:

1.       1. Bradford Mtn  (2nd place!)

2.r  2.  Reynoso

         3. Astrale E Terra

         4.  Cutt

         5.  Acorn

        6. Bonneau  (First Place, judges favorite!)

         7. Gann

         8. Paradise Ridge (Third Place!!)

         9.  White Rock

         10.   Gamble

 The results of the tasting, were as usual, mixed, proving once again that both Napa and Sonoma make fabulous wines.  However, this time,  both the public and the judges chose a Napa wine as their favorite, though it was not the same wine.  The highest scoring wine from the Judges was Bonneau.  Bonneau is a Sonoma producer, however the grapes come from Hyde vineyard on the Napa side of Carneros.  The 2^nd highest scoring wine was Bradford Mtn, Sonoma, and then came Paradise Ridge, making 2 out of the top three Sonoma grapes .

 We had some awesome girl power this time at the judges’ table starting with Linda Trotta, former winemaker for Gundlach Bundschu  and owner of Teresina Wines, makers of delicious Zin (especially the ’08).  Linda, along with many other judges, scored Bonneau the highest.    Although a Napa grape, it was made by a Sonoma producer.    Which makes sense since Linda is a Sonoma winemaker living in the Napa Valley.

We were pleased to have Lynn Wheeler on board.  Lynn is the better half of  Hobo Wine Company, a wine company that includes three labels, Hobo,  Banyan, and Folk Machine.    Lynn gave Bradford Mtn, which can be found at Cellars of Sonoma, a near perfect score.   But veteran Sibling Rivalry judge, Jil Child, of Wine Tours of the World, gave an even nearer perfect score to Reynoso, a winery in Alexander Valley.  Thus far, this is unprecedented in Sibling Rivalry history just proving how nearly perfect a wine Syrah produces!   Jil opted to answer the challenge questions we give the judges just for fun. She was one out of only two  judges who  could blindly guess any of the ava’s. In this case Jil easily recognized the taste of Carneros in the Bonneau.

    The other judge who was able to blindly taste terroir is another Sibling Rivalry veteran and founder of Simple Hedonsims, William Allen. Even more impressive is that William, was able to pick out something as intricate as terroir when he had a cold.  William gave his highest score to Gamble Family, which is a Napa producer.   

    James Matuszewski, founder of Local Wino,  has not only been a judge at all three Sibling Rivalries, but he has made it to every pre-event judging session except one.   All this blind tasting has definitely honed James’ blind tasting skills, he answered the most questions correctly in the judges’ challenge, excelling as usual with barrel program and blend.  James has learned something else through this series, he loves Sonoma! He gave Bradford Mtn his highest score.

     New comer, Christopher Vandendriesshe,  family member and winemaker for White Rock Vineyards in Napa, stayed true to his Napa roots. His top two were Cutt and White Rock (very rarely do winemakers actually pick out their own wine), both Napa producers. 

    Newcomer winemaker David Sundberg, of Byrd Vineyards in Mendocino and Diamond Oaks in Napa, scored Bonneau and Gamble Family the highest, giving him a napa palate.

    Last but not least we were very please to add Daedalus Howell.  Daedalus is as colorful as his name, using his wit and clever use of the English language when writing his own blog or as a wine writer for the North Bay Bohemian and Sonoma Index Tribune.    Daedalus was, as he puts it, “quite smitten” with Paradise Ridge, and who wouldn’t be?  Paradise Ridge not only looks like Paradise but they make great wine as well.  However, his top three scores, all with the same score, were Bonneau, Cutt, and Gann.

         For the public we had 20 wines.  Here are the wines:

 1.  07 Mounts (S)

2.  07 Reynoso (S0

3.  07 Muscardini Gracie’s Creek (S)

4.  06 Black Cat (N)

5.  05 Paradise Ridge (S)

6.  07 Cutt (N)

7.  06 HdV (N)

8. 06 Gamble Family (N)

9.  04 Broman Cellars (N)

10.  04 Astrale eTerra (N)

11.   '05 White Rock (N)

12.  07 Bonneau (N)

13.   07 Muscardini Unti (S)

14.   07 Acorn (S)

15.   07 Roche (S)

16.   06 Mayo (N)

17.  Ahnfeldt (N)

18.    Gann (S)

19.  Tin Barn (S)

20.   Bradford Mtn (S)

The top three wines from the public were White Rock Vineyards of Napa, Cutt of Napa, Bradford Mtn, and Paradise Ridge tied for 3rd..  The Super Secret Stash, which was well received, was Renard Kick Ranch Syrah, a Napa producer using Sonoma grapes.

As usual, there are always mishaps and mistakes with our tastings.  We are learning as we go.  One thing that is missing are my notes from the public results, so once again I don’t have the overall female and male favorite. However, should those notes turn up we’ll be sure to post those results on Twitter and Facebook.

We are taking a break from Sibling Rivalry for a few months.  We plan on returning late June where we’ll do a battle of Rieslings. 

Cheers!