December 2015 | 96 points

TOP 100 WINERIES OF 2015

“Eric Sussman has been working with John Dierke’s organically farmed syrah since 2008, the vineyard planted on a southwest-facing slope of sandy Goldridge soil west of Sebastopol. In 2012, those vines grew a syrah of astonishing intensity and purity, as fresh as the wind that whips through the forested hills of the California coast. It’s electric yet substantial, with shaded pools and eddies of flavor–dark, concentrated fruit tones of cassis and wild blueberries, scents of herbs and moss, peppercorn, ginseng, rose petals, cured meat, sage… Decant it now to catch its youthful, crunchy exuberance or age it for another five years to bring more elasticity to the tannins. Either way, you’ll have a supremely lifted and complex wine to pour with lamb or wild game.”

–Luke Sykora
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