2018 PharaohMoans Syrah Westside Paso Robles

JD98 Lots of spice plums, orange blossoms, spring flowers, peach and peppery notes emerge from the 2018 Syrah. An exotic, full-bodied, seamless Syrah with ripe yet pleasant tannins, no hard edges, and a great, great finish, it’s truly brilliant and the finest I’ve tasted from this estate. All Syrah from a mix of sites on the westside of Paso Robles, brought up in 60% new oak, it’s going to keep 10-15 years.
Estate Notes: 2018 PharaohMoans Syrah was picked from different parcels, each with unique terroir and exposure, giving the wine a beautiful complexity. The first two parcels, harvested on September 15, feature deep soils underlaid with limestone. The third parcel, with a heavier loam and clay profile, was picked two weeks later. Aged in 50% new/50% neutral oak barrels for 19 months, the wine presents with a subtle mouthfeel and a silky, soft finish. 450 cases produced.

Limited production Rhone-style Syrah and Grenache from hillside vineyards in Paso Robles, California’s fastest growing wine region. With distinct micro-climates, diverse soils and a long growing season, Paso Robles is a unique wine region blessed with optimal growing conditions for producing ultra premium Syrah wines.

John Schwartz, owner of Amuse Bouche Winery in Napa Valley, and Chef Bryan Ogden, recipient of the James Beard Award for best restaurant 2003, have teamed up with winemaker Guillaume Fabre to produce only 350 cases of our Rhone-style wine, which is aging gracefully in a combination of Tarransaud, Saury and L’Ermite French oak. Their vineyards are located in the West Paso Robles appellation whose sloping hills are broadly exposed to the Pacific ocean climatic influences. The objective was to create the best Syrah in California under the Paso Robles appellation. 

Winemaker is Guillaume Fabre, a French native who moved to Paso Robles in California in 2006 to work at L’Aventure Winery after spending years working on his family’s property back home. Working closely with Michel Rolland Consulting, he developed the skills and knowledge that his constant quest for highest quality demand.

The vineyards and winery are on the westside of Paso Robles near the Templeton Gap, a breach in the coastal mountain range where the cooling ocean breezes temper the hot summer days of northern San Luis Obispo County, and the resultant temperature swing from day to night can be as much as 40 degrees. The soils of this area are also well suited for vineyards, with limestone, clay, and rock-shell creating a lean enviro