Syrah

	Varietals:	100% Syrah
	Vineyard:	Le Clape, Minervois
	Appellation:	Languedoc, France
	Sub Appellation:	Minervois
	Fermentation:	Traditional Long Fermentation
	Wood:	Mature French Oak Barrels
	Aging:	30% of the wine stored 6 months in mature French Oak Barrels.

Winemaker Notes: Red fruit and hint of spice on the nose. Plenty of structure. Soft tannins give this medium bodied wine a classic Syrah palate. Subtle oak nuances help to smooth out the long finish.

A Syrah that goes well with foods, an excellent wine for the price.

Syrah: Shiraz, or Syrahis a variety of grape used in wine. It is called Syrah in France, Argentina, Chile, and most of the United States. In South Africa, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand it is known as Shiraz. In Australia it used to be called Hermitage up to the late 1980s. It should not be confused with Petite Sirah, a synonym for Durif, which is a different type of grape. Syrah is the offspring of two obscure French varieties, Dureza and Mondeuse Blanche.

The name of the grape Shiraz was taken from that of the city of Shiraz in Iran, near where the process of wine making possibly originated 7000 years ago. It is believed that the Syrah/Shiraz was brought into southern France by a returning crusader, Guy De'Sterimberg. He became a hermit and developed a vineyard on a steep hill where he lived in the Rhône River Valley. It became known as the Hermitage. In 1998, a study conducted at the University of California, Davis concluded that the grape variety in its modern cultivated form originated in the vicinity of the Northern Rhône valley of France, as the result of a cross of the "Dureza" and "Mondeuse Blanche" grape varieties;[6] and in 2001, using DNA analysis, this was proven to be the case.

Syrah continues to be the main grape of the Northern Rhône and is associated with classic wines such as Hermitage, Cornas and Côte-Rôtie. In the Southern Rhône it is used as a blending grape in such wines as Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Gigondas and Côtes du Rhône. Although its best incarnations will age for decades, less-extracted styles may be enjoyed young for their lively red and blueberry characters and smooth tannin structure. Shiraz has been widely used as a blending grape in the red wines of many countries due to its fleshy fruit mid-palate, balancing the weaknesses of other varieties and resulting in a "complete" wine.

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