Alban - Reva Syrah Alban Estate 2019
Price: $149.99
Sale: $109.98
Producer | Alban |
Country | United States |
Region | California |
Subregion | Edna Valley |
Varietal | Syrah |
Vintage | 2019 |
Sku | 84834 |
Size | 750ml |
Alban Description
In the earliest years of Alban Vineyards, I lived in a rented green house propagating cuttings. When I wasn’t making vines, I was busy looking for the future home for all the vines in my nursery. I spent 7 years looking at possible vineyard sites all over the Central Coast of California. Whenever I found a promising site, I negotiated a due diligence period during which I could do soil and site analysis. While mapping out the last piece I’d ever evaluate (because it was the one that turned into Alban Vineyards) I happened to name a little ridge on one part of the ranch ‘Reva’s Ridge’. It was a play on words incorporating the name of a Kentucky Derby winner: Riva’s Ridge, and my mother’s name which is Reva. Clearly I’d been in the sun too long and I will admit that I am a total ‘mama’s boy’. Years later, after calling the vineyard Reva and tagging the first barrel as Reva, I embraced the obvious: I named the wine Reva.
The grapes that go into Reva (97-100% Syrah with the balance Viognier) are from neutral sandy soils and portions of ranch that are chalky and quite alkaline. This combination makes for a wine with dark color, concentrated flavors of black fruits, fennel, and graphite. Perhaps the most distinguishing note of Reva is a unique iodine and oyster shell aromatic that is unlike anything in our other Syrahs. The wine is aged 3.5 years in barrels before bottling unfined and unfiltered.
Wine Advocate: 96 Points
I tasted the 2019 Syrah Reva on July 8, shortly after its bottling in June. The 2019 is particularly elegant, with notable detail and vibrancy. "I've been more curious about the reaction of consumers to the 2019 Reva than I have in a long time," winemaker John Alban explains. "Will they like it? The Reva is very different in 2019." It's a touch aromatically coiled from its recent bottling, taking plenty of time and air to unfold scents of blackcurrants, peppermint patty, charcuterie, coffee beans and brown sugar. The full-bodied palate has a strong spine of refreshing acidity and plush, velvety tannins to balance its depth of flavor, and it offers a beautiful flourish of spice and floral tones that fan across the long finish. It's less ripe and hedonistic than in some vintages yet just as enjoyable! This will be released in the fall of 2023.
Wine Spectator: 95 Points
Powerfully built and richly detailed, this Syrah has dynamic blackberry, bittersweet chocolate and peppered meat accents that build tension toward brooding tannins. Hands off for now. Best from 2025 through 2035.
Vintages and ratings subject to change at any time.
All pricing and availability subject to change.
Artwork does not necessarily represent items for sale.