Cattleya the Reward Syrah 2022

Cattleya the Reward Syrah 2022
13.9% alcohol, cork, Santa Lucia Highlands.

This wine is a labour of love. It was first produced in 2017 and only a barrel, or maximum two, is made each year. Twenty-four dozen bottles were released of this 2022 vintage.
It’s a spicy, sinewy release with garrigue herbs, black cherry, cypress leaf, minor black pepper and graphite characters rippling throughout. It’s a wine with a skip in its step – it has an energy – and yet it’s also both acidic and tannic, the latter coming in long, gene-sequence chains of quite remarkable length. This is Syrah as the lovechild of nebbiolo. It’s complex. It’s entertaining. It’s savoury-accented, and it’s compelling. 95 points. 

This wine was made by Bibiana González Rave. I listened to her talk recently, both on her farm in the Santa Lucia Highlands and at a restaurant in Monterey. She’s genuine. She’s intense. She’s funny and she’s humble. It’s no surprise that she makes great wine.