{"product_id":"whitcraft-my-friend-matts-vineyrad-syrah-santa-ynez-valley-santa-barabra-ca-2022","title":"Whitcraft - 'My Friend Matt's Vineyrad' - Syrah - Santa Ynez Valley, Santa Barabra, CA - 2022","description":"\u003ch2\u003eSatellite's Hot Take\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eA killer syrah with a purpley fruited, chaparral-laden presence and lithe, bony structure. Reminiscent of Northern Rhône - the wine strikes the balance Whitcraft is so known for. Drake's wines are Santa Barbara - unfiltered and unadjusted - they showcase the greatest sites for what they are - mo lipstick, just a reflection of great fruit from a perfect landscape - loaded with personality. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eNotes from the Winery\/Importer\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eAbove the Sy River on a clay rich mesa, but with river deposits of granite, chert and sand stone galets. Smells more northern Rhone than Rhone ranger. Mouth is and fresh loaded with purple fruit, and the nose with black pepper and a lil olive.\n\n\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMy Friend Matt’s Vineyard\u003cbr\u003eaka Clover Creek Syrah\u003cbr\u003eSanta Ynez Valley AVA | 100% Syrah (Clone 887)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrom the clay and limestone soils of Clover Creek Vineyard in Santa Barbara, this limited-production Syrah is all about precision and purity. Hand-harvested from a south-southwest facing site and made using traditional methods, it was fermented 100% whole cluster for 14 days.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe wine was gravity-racked from press pan to barrel, then bottled using only gravity and a touch of argon—never pumped, never racked off its lees. Aged 23 months in neutral François Frères French oak, it was bottled without filtration or fining.\u003cbr\u003e    •    Alcohol: 14.4%\u003cbr\u003e    •    Production: 112 cases\u003cbr\u003e    •    Farming: Traditional\u003cbr\u003e    •    Winemaking: Minimal intervention, whole-cluster fermented, gravity-flow bottled\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eNotes on the Producer\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen Drake Whitcraft took over the family winery in 2007 (the winery was founded two decades before, in 1985 by his parents, Chris and Kathleen) his goal was to make balanced Central Coast wine of purity, honesty, and finesse. Because he grew up within the culture of wine and California winemaking, he was perpetually under the tutelage of both father Chris and friend Burt Williams, founder of the legendary Williams-Selyem winery in Sonoma. During a two year stint in Australia working at Green Vineyards with first-generation Italo-Australian and biodynamic guru Sergio Carlei, he got a good taste of certain practices he wanted to implement, not only in the vineyard and winery but also on the business side. Now Drake is vinifying with the same old school techniques his dad used (hand-harvesting, foot-pressing etc, no added enzymes or coloration) and with much veneration to Mother Nature herself.\u003cbr\u003eHis vineyards all use organic and\/or biodynamic practices to produce Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Syrah, Zinfandel, Gamay, Trousseau, and Grenache of distinction; he does not de-stem or add water. Drake has chosen to inoculate only with the Williams Selyem strain, a yeast native to the Jackass Hill portion of Lino Martinelli’s Zinfandel vineyard on the Russian River. “It’s a super yeast,” he says “guaranteed to ferment.” Whole cluster fermentation is never subject to pump over and the wines are not racked off the lees. He hand fills and hand corks each bottle. The wine receives just enough SO2 to stabilize it, and the production is super small. It's the only inoculation we allow for still wines at Satellite... in that it's really a wild yeast strain identified and used as part of a natural process.\u003cbr\u003eThe resulting wines are clean and impeccably balanced. They represent a cross section of the emerging class of site-specific wines coming out of Central Coast California today.\u003c\/p\u003e\n","brand":"Satellite SB","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47487008997627,"sku":"00076393","price":43.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0403\/3655\/6193\/files\/762ca471e2b54b422f9be5f6c0ce6931.png?v=1756935974","url":"https:\/\/satellitesb.com\/products\/whitcraft-my-friend-matts-vineyrad-syrah-santa-ynez-valley-santa-barabra-ca-2022","provider":"Satellite SB","version":"1.0","type":"link"}