2005 Hommage a Max Syrah

The History
One of the great joys of parenthood is watching your children evolve as individuals. Seeing the differences between my daughter Francesca and my son Max have lead me to create this wine. While both of them are extremely sensitive and feel things quite deeply for small children their individuality exhibits many different characteristics. Max is as rough and tumble as any five year old I have ever known. A great sense of humor keeps me in stitches whenever we’re just hanging out. And though I never suggested he take up sports, he was drawn to it by his school chums. He’s turned into a fantastic baseball and soccer player with a fascination for the intricacies of the game. His character screams Syrah in my eyes and heart; it is how I see him. This terrifically wonderful little boy represented this wine. This would be a wine that could be separated from the sense of place and would be a reflection of him as I see him. My interpretation of my son through wine as a medium would serve three purposes: A library for my son Wine to be donated to charities of his choosing, primarily children’s charities Wine for the consumer because he should share it

The Wine
For this, the third vintage of Hommage a Max, the blend is comprised of 29 % Stolpman clone 7, 25% Purisima clone T99 and 6% clone 174, 25% Westerly clone 877 and 15% clone 174. These barrels were chosen because they were the best examples from each site and they met the criteria I had set: Concentrated richness without excessive alcohol, a supple velvety texture and youthfulness to the wine. The wine carries a Santa Ynez appellation. I think everyone agrees by now that this area produces some of the finest Syrah in America. As with all of our Syrah this year, the wine was aged in 36 month old extra tight grain Sirugue barrels from the Allier forest of which 40 % were new. It spent a total of 22 months in barrel and was bottled in mid July of 2007 without fining or filtration. It remains in our cellar and is currently available only to our Grand Cru Society members.

Family Wines
Like so many other family owned businesses, I took the opportunity to produce something within my given craft that would be kept for our family and our very dearest of friends. In the case of the Francesca Pinot Noir and Hommage a Max Syrah, two wines with less than 200 six packs in total production; these are intended to be something very special and hopefully my very best effort. The bulk of this wine would be kept in my children’s library taken out on birthdays and such. These wines would also be used to advance various charity causes that my children felt compelled to donate to. I am delighted that they understand on some level that the wines so named for them help to raise money for certain children’s charities and that they feel proud of their father and of their wines.

Technical Data
3.49ph		152 - six packs
6.4 g/l		96 - magnums
14.4 % alcohol		2 - 3 liter bottles
.56 ppm dissolved oxygen		5- 5 liter bottles
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