2022 Wood Family Vineyards Syrah. Rated Highly by Local Gnomes!
Photo ©Michael Kelly
The Winery
Photo from Wood Family Vineyards website
Wood Family Vineyards, located in eastern Livermore Valley with Rhonda Wood owner & winemaker, has been producing award winning wines for over two decades. You can read more on her background from airline pilot to award winning winemaker at:
https://californiawinesandwineries.com/2016/02/10/wood-family-vineyards-2
This year 2024, at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition (largest in North America), Wood Family Vineyards won the following awards and not all are listed:
2019 Cabernet Franc – Double Gold
2021 Malbec – Double Gold
2019 Cabernet Sauvignon “Clone 30” – Double Gold
2021 El Loco Rojo Red Blend – Double Gold
2021 Captain Red Blend – Double Gold
2022 Chardonnay – Gold
Their 2019 was awarded 95 points & won Double Gold at the Orange County Wine Fair. The 2022 is surely destined to win awards also.
For a complete listing see their website listed below.
The Wine – “Wine is bottled poetry” – Robert Louis Stevenson
Photo ©Michael Kelly
This wine is destined to be one of the Wood Family Vineyards quick sellers. First on the eyes, a deep almost “blackish” color but with a rim of mesmerizing magenta/purple hue and medium heavy viscosity. On the nose, dark berries and violets are the predominate aromas that waft into your senses. But on the palate is where robust, dense and lively blackberry and blueberry flavors, along with red plums engulf the mouth with the fruit and black pepper. Tertiary flavors of clove and cherry cola are present. On the finish, velvety texture and very subtle tannins caress the back of the mouth to provide a long lasting enjoyable tasting. Listed at $38/bottle and only 60 cases produced. The wine was aged 18 months in a mixture of French and Hungarian oak with 30% being new oak, 20% Hungarian and 10% French. 100% Syrah varietal from the Clark vineyard in East Livermore.
Two out of two local gnomes recommended this wine especially during the summer!
The Food and Wine Pairing – “Food without wine is a corpse; wine without food is a ghost. United and well matched, they are as body and soul: living partners” – Andre Simon
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Paired this evening with a sausage filled with pork, cheddar cheese and bacon! BBQ’ed and accompanied by roasted quartered and seasoned Yukon Gold potatoes and asparagus. The enveloping fruit of the wine provided a beautiful juxtaposition with the spicy BBQ’ed sausages. A wonderful wine with food and without food for a summer time enjoyment.
Sláinte,
Michael