Mark Moretti Winery
2006 Santa Barbara, White Hawk Vineyard, Syrah

~BRONZE MEDAL WINNER!
  2008 SF Chronicle Wine Competition

This wine marks our inaugural focus on Rhone style wines. California Syrah, especially from
the Central Coast regions, truly have world-class potential. And in the spirit of making wine
that is unique, fresh and different, we have chosen the White Hawk vineyard as our launching
pad.

Vineyard:
The White Hawk vineyard is located approximately 21 miles west of the pacific ocean and 2
miles north of the town of Los Alamos. Planted at a 900 foot elevation, the vines sit in a pure
sand soil base. This soil helps drain off water and nutrients and forces the vines to work hard
to produce its high quality berries.

Winemaking:
Our objective with this 2006 Syrah was to reach a balance between this grape's traditional
“big fruit” characteristic with crafting a wine that is extremely well balanced and represented
of the unique coastal hillsides where it is grown. We sorted the newly arrived fruit at the
winery with 75% destemmed clusters and 25% whole clusters, added the yeast the next
morning and then let the skins sit on the juice for about 10 days. Over the course of time, we
racked the wine between barrels four times and eventually bottled in late April 2008.

Characteristics:
This Syrah exhibits ripe fruit, great acidity and balanced tannins with elements of blackberries
and spice. It is a big young wine that, if opened now, benefits well from decanting and/or
breathing. It will age quite well and you will notice a balanced maturity over the next 6 months
to a few years.