2005 SYRAH ROLL RANCH
Ojai Valley, California
Roll Ranch is a wine of
many contradictions. Most warm climate syrah has a heavy, fruity
sameness that can get tiresome, yet here we have a wine that is
lively and has a unique personality. This is the direct result
of two factors, site and farming. The vineyard, located in the
Upper Ojai Valley, has an unusual climate for a protected southern
Californian valley. At an elevation of about 1000 feet, it receives
excesses of everything-heat during the day, cooling fog from the
ocean at night, and some of the highest rainfall totals in the
area. The soil, an alluvial decomposition of the local mountain
of note, Topa Topa, is a red sandy loam that is extremely nutrient
poor.
The vines either grow
with excess vigor or a decided lack thereof depending on annual
rainfall, which makes vineyard manager Martin Ramirez's job difficult,
to say the least. 2005 was a huge rainfall year, so he had to
go through the vineyard again and again trimming out excessively
vigorous shoots and trimming clusters. The attention he paid to
the vines has rewarded us once again with a terrific syrah.
This wine has an evocative
and lively aroma of pine, sage and damp earth. There are sappy
plum pit and cherry aromas as well, and no hint of overripe heaviness--which
is not to say the wine is light, it isn't. It is savory and rich
with a nice bittersweet chocolate aftertaste. The 2005 harvest
gave us wines that are fresh and alive.