2010 Copain Syrah Brosseau Vineyard

The 2010 Syrah Brosseau is laced with earthiness, tobacco, scorched earth, juniper berries and game. A wild, untamed Syrah, the Brosseau has no shortage of personality. Here, too, the wine needs time to fully integrate the 100% whole clusters. I have seen the Copain wines develop beautifully in bottle, and I think there is a good chance that will happen here, but readers will have to be patient. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2022. I have to say, it is a bit strange to visit Wells Guthrie’s beautiful Copain winery in Healdsburg, as none of the wines are made from fruit grown on the estate! Guthrie prefers to source fruit from cooler parts of Sonoma, most notably Anderson Valley and Yorkville Highlands. Today the Copain wines are mid-weight, gracious and delicate in style, a far cry from a few years back, when they were much more overt. In cold years like 2010 and 2011, some of the wines are a touch on the fragile side. Readers on a budget should be sure to check out the Tous Ensemble range, as those wines deliver tremendous quality for the money. All of 2011s I tasted from tank were scheduled to be bottled a few days after my visit. Tel. (707) 541-7474

Opaque violet color. Ripe blackberry and blueberry on the highly perfumed nose, with complicating licorice pastille and olive accents. Broad, gently chewy dark berry preserve and floral flavors show a rich, liqueur-like quality lifted by bright supporting acidity. Juicy, focused and very persistent on the finish, with the dark fruit flavors showing a sappy tone and gentle tannic grip. (JR)

The 2010 Syrah Brosseau bursts from the glass with dark red cherries, blueberries, spices and minerals. It is both intensely mineral and explosive in its fruit. Tar, licorice and smoke are some of the notes that wrap around the powerful, insistent finish. The combination of intensity and varietal character is highly appealing. This is a fabulous showing. The soils at Brosseau are mostly decomposed granite. The Syrah clone planted here originates from Jean-Louis Chave.