2008 Rocca Family Vineyards Syrah Grigsby Vineyard Yountville 750 ml

Spectator’s 92pt Rocca Winery Grigsby Vineyard Syrah … A Buster Posey Throw from the Stags Leap Line

In 1996, Mary Rocca purchased a 21-acre property situated in the northwest corner of the intersection of Yountville Cross Road and the Silverado Trail, just a Buster Posey toss from the Stags Leap line. The soils were comprised of light clay loam, strewn with small river rocks. Drainage was excellent.

Grigsby Vineyard (named after Dr. Eric Grigsby, Rocca’s husband) proved to be magical for growing Bordeaux varieties. While summer days could be blistering hot, marine breezes and fog from San Pablo Bay tempered the July and August sun, allowing for the extended hang-time so critical for the making of world-class Cabernet Sauvignon.

But as students of Grigsby Vineyard recall, the first wine crafted off Rocca’s property wasn’t Cabernet Sauvignon. In 2000, Mary struck gold when she lured 100-point winemaker Celia Welch (Scarecrow, Cora, etc.) to Rocca. Immediately, Welch made her first mark on the Stags Leap line, crafting just a few barrels of Grigsby Vineyard Syrah that drew raves from the local cognoscenti.

These days, most growers have ripped out their Syrah plantings, opting instead to farm more lucrative Cabernet Sauvignon. But Mary Rocca has never forgotten Celia Welch’s decidedly Northern Rhône rendering off of Grigsby Vineyard, and has stubbornly refused to replant her small patch of Syrah. After spending a couple hours with the 2008 Rocca Winery Grigsby Vineyard Syrah and a couple Zalto Universal stems, it’s not too difficult to understand why.

As you may recall, 2008 was the first of four short-crop vintages in Napa Valley. While the summer did feature a couple torrid heat spikes, this was otherwise a cool growing season that allowed growers to let fruit hang well into late September and early October. Nights were cool and refreshing throughout August and September. Sugars climbed incrementally, even as acids remained crisp and firm. Just a couple clusters were harvested from each shoot. Berries were small, pert, and exceedingly juicy. While 2008 was a very good year for Cabernet Sauvignon, it was absolutely astounding for Napa Valley Syrah.

The 2008 Grigsby Vineyard Syrah remains astonishingly youthful almost six years after bottling. Opaque purple in color, infused with explosive primary-fruit aromas of dark plum, black cherry liqueur, graphite, and tobacco. Massively concentrated on the attack, dense and briery in texture, the core offers up a hedonistic mix of crushed black and red fruits, a dollop of black raspberry jam, finishing with superb Stags Leap cut and tension. Still a baby, drink now for its youthful charm, or like fine St. Joseph, lay this one down until 2020. It could surely use the shuteye.

92 points from Wine Spectator. 840 bottles have been earmarked for WineAccess. Provenance is perfect; not a case has moved from the Rocca cellars since bottling. $48, if purchased from the Rocca Winery library. Just $20 this morning — EXCLUSIVELY on WineAccess.

P.S. In case you haven’t yet figured it out … we ADORED this wine.