2015 Little Wings Syrah, Antle Vineyard, Chalone AVA (sold out) Have you ever experienced the non-romantic equivalent of "love at first sight"? Well, that's what I felt when I met Ian Brand. He's got an amazing personality-- fascinating, fun, and caring, and a serious edge when he talks about his wines. His wines are a clear reflection of exactly who he is. For the wine geeks: In August 2015, we harvested just over one ton of Syrah from the Chalone AVA's Antle Vineyard, a cool-climate limestone vineyard with some nice elevation, overlooking Monterey Bay. The vineyard is organically farmed and masterly managed by Bill Brosseau. Half of the fruit went into fermentation whole cluster and the other half, whole berry. After a three week maceration, the wine was pressed. It settled for a day and Ian moved it to a used French oak barrel (yes, just one-- and some went into a keg). Total production is just under 60 cases, and alcohol came in at 13.3%. The wine was racked before being bottled on February 14th, 2017 (Happy Valentine's Day!), after 17 months in barrel. The 2015 vintage was pre-sold during our Spring 2017 offer. It will be released in South Florida in May of 2017, at a big winery-style release party. |