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2002 Petite Rousse Paso Robles Syrah On what appears to be the blackest Syrah I have ever worked with, the two thousand two "petite rousse" is already tipping the "ébulliomètre" at 15% alcohol. There is a visible richness to the wine. Hand harvested five days earlier than the 2001 vintage, the immaculate fruit came in at 3.45 tons per acre, 25.6 degrees brix, 3.85 pH, 5.0 grams per liter total acidity, and 18 degrees Celsius. The grapes were 100% destemmed into a single closed-top stainless steel fermentor. The must was sulphured and pumped over once a day with a Manzini piston pump. By day four the indigenous yeasts had bounced back from the sulphur dioxide addition or "sulfitage" and had formed the cap or "chapeau." A daily pumpover or "remontage avec aeration" was performed on the tank to supply oxygen to the yeasts and anthocyanins. Once again the yeasts were allowed to ferment as high as 35 degrees Celsius. Maceration lasted a total of sixteen days based on pressing on the first full moon after harvest. The free run or "vin de goutte" was drained and pumped to a separate tank. For the second straight year the press wine was kept separate and never used in the final blend. In the middle of October a combination of two, four, and five year old Seguin Moreau thin-staved "Center of France" barrels were gravity filled before the start of malolactic fermentation. Each barrel has been gravity topped in place on a monthly basis. Identical to the 2001 vintage, the wine was aged ten months "en barrique" without racking. 2800 cases of wine were bottled unfined and unfiltered the day after the new moon 28 August 2003. "Quand mème" this one hundred percent syrah exudes a striking perfume of candied raspberries, white pepper, and smoked bacon.
25 February 1879
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