Old Lakeville Road is a lonely stretch of highway, just west of the Carneros hills, that seems to have long ago lost any reason for its existence. At the turn of the last century Lakeville was a seasonal resort for visitors to the Petaluma River area, but it is now abandoned. A few years ago, the Sangiacomo family developed a 12-acre Syrah vineyard on a steep hillside parcel just east of Old Lakeville Road, overlooking the Petaluma River. When they asked us to supply the budwood, we chose cuttings we knew to have come from Cornas, Hermitage and Côte-Rôtie. The slope is 45 degrees at its steepest and faces southwest, forming a natural amphitheater opening onto the San Francisco Bay. Temperatures are moderate, so the ripening is slow and even.

Rating

OTH 93 points (Jun15 2011) Dark bright ruby. Compelling nose offers black cherry, black raspberry, bacon fat, smoked meat and white pepper. Thick but lively on entry, then superconcentrated in the middle, with a fascinating sweetness and perfume to the black fruit and pepper flavors. Finishes very long and brisk, with a suggestion of candied fruit, serious but ripe tannins, and lovely smoky persistence. A beauty.