2009 Radio-Coteau Syrah Timbervine

The 2009 Syrah Timbervine caresses the palate with plush dark cherries, plums, sweet spices and flowers. It is a relatively open, accessible Syrah that can be enjoyed today or savored over the next 5-7 years. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2018. I was only able to taste a handful of wines from Radio-Coteau, but I will be addressing that oversight in the near future. These are some of the most compelling wines being made in California. Proprietor Eric Sussman pursues organic and biodynamic farming with a focus on cooler, marginal growing sites. In the cellar the wines are made with ambient yeasts and natural malolactic fermentations. The wines are bottled unfined and unfiltered with the exception of the Chardonnay, which is lightly fined. Yields were down dramatically in 2010, mostly because of the lower crop set. The Pinots saw 5 days of cold soak followed by 15-17 days of fermentation. The Syrahs are potentially even more interesting, but I wasn’t able to taste a fully representative set of wines. Tel. (707) 823-2578; www.radiocoteau.com

Following suit with similar savory and exotic aromas, the 2009 Radio-Coteau Syrah Timbervine shows the class of the vintage with lively and rich notes of raspberry, blackberry, wet stone, meat, and freshly cracked pepper giving way to a medium-bodied, concentrated and structured palate. Freshness and laser like focus are the buzzwords here, yet this has the depth to handle it. Drink bottles over the coming 15 years.

Inky purple. Highly perfumed bouquet of blackberry, cherry-cola, Indian spices and violet, with subtle tobacco, olive and smoky notes emerging with air. Juicy, penetrating and pure, offering sweet dark berry flavors and a suave floral overtone. Sweet and impressively vibrant, with excellent finishing thrust and echoes of candied flowers, smoke and spicecake. This, too, was scheduled for a May bottling.