This Syrah is absolutely incredible!”. Given the incredible backdrop described above, you might expect that the Syrah served to a guest would be elegant and balanced. The Syrah, which just won accolades from Wine Spectator magazine, is about $15 in the American market and produced right on this fabulous estate. News S. MORE >>

Now owned by Anthony Russell (son of the founder) and producing Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The wines produced here are Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc, all very balanced, elegant, and Burgundian as you can imagine. He offers three handcrafted wines – sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, and a syrah based blend called ‘Serenity.’ MORE >>

Other than an occasional Chardonnay, it was red wine only for me. One of the highlights of this year was barrel tasting, at Amy Cheatles persistence, the Damiani Syrah. Tried to convince her that I am not a Syrah fan. New favorites are the Cabernet Franc, Lemberger (Blaufrankisch) and Syrah's from the Finger Lakes. MORE >>

was able to try many of their wines, with all of them scoring high points and my favorites being the 2007 Syrah, both the Rusack Syrah with incredible smoke, fig, licorice and fig, and the 2007 Syrah Reserve, with more concentration, complexity of flavor, and judicious wood influence. MORE >>

The lanky, California maker of pinot noir, chardonnay, and syrah told me at his Sonoma winery that he had his conversion in 2005, after returning from a trip to Burgundy and the Rhone. He tasted the pinot noirs and syrahs he had been making since starting his own label, Copain Wines , in 1999. Search for Copain wines at retail. MORE >>