The last in our series of Syrah blocks at Denner…walking the vineyard with Winemaker Anthony, Assistant Winemaker, Mike and Vineyard Manager Aaron, is Clone 525. If you’ve ever been to Denner, it’s the vineyard that you see right in front of you when you park. By the way, if you haven’t been to Denner yet, it’s a must-stop winery! Beautiful, delicious, and scenic…all of the qualities that make for a great wine tasting experience. This Clone 525 is a clone out of France, and where Denner has it planted, it ripens early as it has enough canopy growth to help ripen the fruit quickly. Like they told us, you can tell when the fruit is getting its sugar because the birds start eating it. One of the “birding” techniques that they told us Denner uses is to ride around on an ATV with a gun, shooting blanks to scare the birds. Even though the birds are crafty and seem to get used to many birding techniques, they also start to fly away at just the sound of the ATV coming along.
As Anthony explains, this particular Syrah can be used in any of the Syrahs they bottle; the Estate, the Ditch Digger or the Dirt Worshiper Anywhere that they’re looking to impart rich, textural fruit in the mid-palate of the wine, this specific wine does the trick.
*Note – they’d just done some work on the floors in the bottling facility, caulking and whatnot; you’ll get the idea when you watch the video.
http://www.dennervineyards.com/
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jelmjw0OeA[/youtube]
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