2004 Frediani Vineyard Petite Syrah

This powerful, intense wine comes from extremely old Petite Syrah vines just southeast of the town of Calistoga, with an average vine age of 80 years old. Huge mouth feel, while still maintaining smooth tannins, are the hallmark of these vines and this ancient vineyard. This wine has plenty of graphite, blackberry, chocolate, and smoke. All clusters are hand-sorted, de-stemmed, fermented in ½ ton open top bins, punched down 5 times per day, then pressed directly into burgundian French oak barrels.

The 2004 growing season experienced a very early, warm spring followed by very moderate summer conditions. Early September brought some heat spikes around Labor Day, and then temperatures decreased to allow for more hang time. An early harvest was predicted because bud break, bloom, and verasion were ahead of normal. Crop size for Frediani Vineyard was 20% lower than usual, producing a wine with amazing concentration and complexity. We harvested the Petite Syrah 10 days earlier than the previous vintage, which gave us very ripe fruit with higher acids.

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Varietals:	100% Petite Syrah
Appellation:	Napa Valley
Alcohol:	16.2%
Comments:	Sometimes the stars and planets line up just right, sometimes magic happens, and sometimes wines become less about the grape, soil, grower, vineyard, and the winemaker. Sometimes a wine transcends all this. The 2004 Frediani Petite Syrah Cuvée Speciale is a wine experience like none other that I have encountered since starting JC Cellars. This wine took nearly 24 months to finish fermentation in the barrel. Maybe this is why it's so complete, so intoxicating, so integrated, so powerful, yet layered…or maybe the stars and the planets lined up just right.
Reviews:	Robert M. Parker, Jr.’s The Wine Advocate: 93 points Exhibits an opaque blue/purple color in addition to sweet aromas of blueberries, crushed rocks, and white flowers. Powerful, concentrated, and amazingly intense as well as rich, it should easily evolve for two decades or more. This grape remains the most underrated high quality varietal in California, especially for longevity.
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