Nickel & Nickel, Russian River Valley (Sonoma County, California) Syrah 2008

 Lots of Syrah was planted in California during the 1990s, largely due to a coincidence of growing interest in wines from the Rhône and Australia and a sudden need for replanting many vineyards due to the failure of a widely utilized rootstock.  All of that Syrah planting seemed like a great idea to me at the time, though it has turned out that many of the resulting wines have been underwhelming in terms of dimension and complexity–and this remains true even now that the vines are attaining maturity.  Exceptions to this rule are both conspicuous and valuable for what they tell us about how American Syrah might show more nuanced character.  This wine certainly stands as one of the important exceptions to the rather boring rule, and perhaps it is the relatively cool climate in Sonoma’s Russian River Valley that explains its excellence.  Dark fruit tones dominate the wine’s aromatics and flavor, with notes of black raspberry and blackberry rising to the fore, along with interesting accents of dark chocolate and espresso beans.  Built to develop over time, this gets much better with air, and indeed looked even better a day after opening, so if I has another bottle I’d hold it for a good five years.  By the way, Nickel & Nickel is in the midst of one of the hottest hot streaks in all of American winemaking.