2019 Ellen

Cuvee Ellen

The Ellen Syrah was first made in 2007 and in later years morphed into a big and bold Reserve Syrah, but has now changed back to a more elegant and balanced style starting with the 2016 vintage. The evolution continues in this 2019 version with one further development where we have co-fermented 6% Estate Viognier with the Syrah to help build aromatic complexity. The Syrah was based on our newer plantings of clone 470, again picked a little earlier than for the Estate Syrah wine, and having its final 12 months aging in our oak Foudre after its first 6 months in small oak barrels. The wine tasted from this Foudre shows great color (interestingly, the viognier stabilizes color in Syrah leading to darker wines) and has some of the Viognier floral aromatics to complement the Syrah fruit. Medium plus bodied, it has some elegance and a fruit sweetness to match its tannins and it promises long term cellar aging potential for those with plenty of patience. Well balanced and harmonious to enjoy this now and for the next 8 years!