2018 Harrington Syrah McEvoy Ranch

Region: Marin County < California

Grapes: Syrah

Vineyard/cellar stats: CCOF certified organic farming; whole cluster fermented, foot trod and aged 10 months in concrete tank; 13.2% ABV; 96 cases

MOUNTAIN MAGIC:  Situated a few miles from the foggy Marin Coast, the hilly McEvoy Ranch Estate is the textbook California cool-climate Syrah vineyard. Here, rows of olive trees are interspersed with rows of certifiedtifSyrah vines.

Bryan is one of the only true urban winemakers in SF, working out of an industrial facility in Bayview to make a boatload of tiny lot (<100 cases) natural wines, all from organic (or better) vineyards, with no temperature control, no manipulations, and  little or no SO2.

There are so many things to love about Bryan’s McEvoy Ranch Syrah, from Petaluma’s iconic olive farm.  It drinks like a Northern Rhone Syrah, Cornas perhaps. And that this wine was delicately foot-stomped by three REAL LIFE BALLERINAS from the SF Ballet!  Inky, black-purple in the glass with crunchy tannins, peppery spice, blackberry, black olive and plum, it’s a structured, chewy wine that is delicious now, but will only get better over the next few years.