Since 1997 Paso
Robles has been the primary source for our Syrah grapes. I made wine for Jerry Lohr from 1990 until
1996 and during that time the interest in Syrah in Paso Robles exploded. For good reason the grape thrives in the
summer heat and with the cold fall nights Syrah develops wonderful character
and deep color.
We have similar
conditions here in Amador although our harvest nights aren’t as cold as those
in Paso Robles. Numerous local growers
that have planted Rhone varieties, but since we had wonderful sources for the
Syrah in Paso Robles I didn’t pursue a local relationship. That is until 2020.
In 2020 Constellation,
a large winery producing wine for several labels, did not take the Syrah grapes
from Art and Bonnie Toy’s Dal Porto Ranch Vineyard because of fear of smoke
taint. There had been fires in the area
and the sunsets did feature a large red orb disappearing behind the western
horizon. But we were never in danger of evacuation
or did we need to shelter in place orders due to poor air quality. It was the middle of the crush, and I didn’t
get the news until two weeks after the grapes should have been harvested. The situation piqued my curiosity. I was making wine from local fruit. Should I
have been worried? Was I also at risk of
making wine with smoke taint or was Constellation just trying to balance
inventories by not taking the fruit? I
called Art and asked, “Is the fruit still there?” Stupid question. “Yes”, Art replied. No one was interested in
taking a risk on the fruit. “Is it still
in good shape?” I inquired. “Yeah, but
some clusters are showing signs of dehydration.” Art replied. “I’ve got an idea I want to run past you
Art. I would like to make some wine from
the Syrah and see if there is anything to this claim about smoke taint in the
wine. If the wine turns out fine and I
bottle it I will pay you for the grapes, if not I will share the wine with you
provided it doesn’t smell and taste like an ashtray.” Long story short. The wine turned out beautifully, and we have
been crushing just over two tons of Dal Porto Syrah, enough to make about 150
cases of wine, ever since.
