Donelan, Sonoma County Syrah Keltie

Donelan, Sonoma County Syrah KeltieThe 2012 Syrah Cuvee Keltie is brilliant, and over the two days I followed the bottle, it only continued to improve with air. Coming from a top selection of their single vineyard and not destemmed, this cuve always sees 20 months all in neutral oak. If there's a flagship release in the lineup of Syrahs, this is it. The 2012 offers a brilliant perfume of red and black currants, smoked meats, lavender, ground pepper, and herbes de Provence, and it gains

Apple and quince are coolingly laced with mint and wintergreen (decidedly reminiscent of the corresponding Bernkasteler) but also

Like the Chevalier there is some residual SO2 present on the notably floral-suffused nose that primarily consists of various white orchard fruit

There is excellent power and concentration to the very round but tension-filled broad-shouldered flavors that possess excellent size

Medium-bodied with fine and polished tannins

There is a bit more mid-palate density to the medium-bodied flavors that combine good power with evident muscle on the firm

a multi-dimensional mouthfeel with loads of plum

balance and concentration

The caressing and strikingly well detailed middle weight flavors are impressively rich yet precise and this too evidences plenty of minerality on the powerful

100% Sangiovese from vineyards in Castelnuovo Berardenga 2

but they are attractively textured thanks to the dense but fine tannins on the balanced

classically rustic tannins

Very intense