Planted in 2001 on a steep hillside above the celebrated HMR Pinot Noir Vineyard, Anna's comprises some 18 acres of six defined blocks of high limestone tolerant ENTAV Syrah clones. ENTAV is an acronym for the French Agricultural Bureau that oversees the propagation and certification of grapevine material. The buzzword of modern viticulture, clones are essentially natural variants of a mother plant, bred for unique properties, often taste characteristics that have been copied under rigorous hygienic standards and registered for further propagation by licensed nurseries, ultimately for use by the winegrowing community.
Anna's hilltop location, some 14 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean, varies in elevation between 1800-1900 feet, as always in the everpresent limestone soils on Paso Robles Westside. In the vineyard these Syrah vines are training upward on a VSP, or vertical shoot positioning system, useful to control natural vigor and rapunzel-like vegetative growth. Through the use of a series of adjustable wires the vine tendrils are trained upward exposing the fruit clusters to more direct sunlight , thus enhancing ideal ripening conditions. A short winter rainy season led to a spurt of vigorous growth, a warm Paso summer and cool down during the extended Fall harvest. Benefiting from full ripeness, the plump berries were destemmed, given a short temperate soak, fermented with indigenous yeast in open top stainless steel vats (with twice a day hand punch downs of the cap of solids) and moved to French oak barrels for a 22 month rest and maturation.
The first declared vintage of Adelaida's Estate Anna's Vineyard, named after the owner's grandmother, is predominantly from block six, based on the Southern Rhone Tablas Clone A selection. This extremely dense, glass staining wine is precocious with its heady flavors of blueberry demiglazed fruit, and distinct wood smoke aromatics. Second tastes reveal a bazaar of Middle Eastern spices and scents of fine corinthian leather. Best enjoyed with lamb or game, its sexy personality will persist for upwards of five years of good cellaring. Unfined and Unfiltered.
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