Morgan 2003 Syrah

Winemaker’s Tasting Notes:
The color is a deeply saturated purple-black with red highlights. On the nose, the wine exhibits aromas of blackberry, blueberry, and raspberry, with bittersweet chocolate, vanilla, white pepper, and hard spice notes. The aromas echo on the palate, and one notes a wealth of rich fruit with a deftly balanced tannin structure. The tannins are integrated into the density of the fruit, producing a wine of harmony and balance. While enjoyable now, we feel this wine is a good contender for mid-term aging.

Winemaking Notes:
The grapes are destemmed and fermented, 50% whole berry, in a combination of small, open top fermenters and large fermentation tanks. The small fermenters retain the cool climate subtleties of the grapes, and produce a wine of elegance and refinement. The large tank fermentations, which allows for higher heat retention during the process, gives the wine power and structure through greater extraction. The wine is transferred to small oak cooperage, and was aged for 14 months. 25% of the barrels are new; the remaining are 2nd and 3rd year barrels. The wine was bottled in December 2004.

Vineyard Notes:
The Coastview Vineyard is on the eastern side of the valley, in a remote spot high in the Gabilan Mountains. It is the highest elevation of the vineyards and gives the wine a deep, saturated color and powerful tannins. The coolest vineyards are in the Santa Lucia Highlands. Morgan’s organically grown Double L Vineyard is in the northern end of the appellation, and the Paraiso Vineyard is in the southern end. These provide the classic Northern Rhone type Syrah flavors and aromas, typically blackberry/blueberry with lavender and violet notes. These refined flavors are best developed in cool climates. The Scheid Vineyard is in San Lucas. This vineyard has less fog influence from the Monterey Bay. Being somewhat warmer, this vineyard produces powerful structured grapes with a ripe, red fruit component and aromatics. The resulting wine is consistent with the Morgan style of wine exhibiting finely expressed ripe fruit at the core, with soft, fine tannin support.

Vintage Notes:
After the typical cool, windy summer, the 2003 fall weather turned unpredictable and brought some temperature swings, coupled with a touch of wetness. The Syrah and Grenache came in a bit earlier than usual, with harvest wrapped up by mid October, with very good quality. The fruit was brought in fully ripe, with ripe tannins.