Syrah Cuvee Keltie, Donelan Family Wines 2012

The 2012 Syrah Cuvée Keltie is a selection of choice blocks of vineyards they work, such as the Obsidian, Walker Vine Hill, Richard's, Steiner Ranch. It's meant to be their crème de la crème offering, and this wine's score suggests that they succeeded. 100% Syrah aged 20 months in neutral French oak, it tips the scales at 14.7% natural alcohol. An opaque purple color offers up notes of pen ink, white chocolate, charcuterie, lavender, blackberry and pepper aromas. Very full-bodied with a multidimensional mouthfeel, layers of fruit, glycerin and intensity, this is stunning stuff and a candidate for perfection with more bottle age. Drink this remarkable, prodigious Syrah over the next 20-25 years. By the way, this is 100% whole cluster, and indigenous yeasts were used for both alcohol and malolactic fermentation.