2023 Syrah Cuvée Violette

SYRAH CUVÉE VIOLETTE IN 7 WORDS

Blackberries, Violets, Olives, Licorice, Spice, Fleshy, Elegance

WINEMAKING NOTES

Cuvée Violette, as the name suggests, displays the perfumed and floral side of this noble grape variety. The palate is silky smooth thanks to a gentle extract in this freakish year of heat domes and forest fires. The focus is on the feminine and graceful qualities of Syrah coming to the foreground and nearly 2% of Viognier in the co-ferment process helps with this. In the cellar we kid around and call this wine a Syrah for Pinot Noir lovers. Crunchy bramble fruit and purple flowers mingle with pepper and spice. Red and black bramble fruits burst on the nose and the palate. This cuvée is ready to be enjoyed and savoured upon release. It can be aged for the mid-term (5-7 years). It will most likely continue to improve past that age too.

2023 Syrah Cuvée Violette is coming from the lowest-yielding vintage since inception. The vines gave us only 1.85 tons per acre (compared to our more typical 3-4 tons/acre or those of more quantity-minded producers at 5.5+ tons). It is hypothetically somewhere between the richer, fuller, juicier 2020 and the classic balanced style of 2019 or even 2018. 

PAIRING

Meat-Based

Crispy-Skin Duck Breast with a Lavender Honey Gastrique or Steak Dianne with a Flambé of Crème de Violette and Cassis Moutarde is a match made in heaven as well

Plant-Based

Hearty, earthy and lightly herbal food with this one. Lentil Walnut Meatloaf with Burnt Onion Jus is definitely a winner.

TECHNICAL DETAILS

Region: South Okanagan

Cepage: 98.2% Syrah, 1.8% Viognier

Age of Vines 15-20 years old

Yield 1.85

Production: 955 cases

Alcohol: 13.4%

Aging: 100 % in neutral french oak barrels and puncheons for 16 months