2014 Melville Estate Syrah Donna´s Santa Rita Hills

Even better, with more depth, density and ripeness, the 2014 Syrah Donna's offers overflowing notes of olive tapenade, salted beef, licorice, black olive, peppery herbs and cured meats, with tons of ripe currants, fresh plum and smoked black cherry fruit. Full-bodied, elegant and seamless, with fabulous purity and persistence, I wouldn't push the aging curve, but it's a killer wine that will provide tons of pleasure over the coming 7- 8 years.

The 2014 Syrah Donna's is much more dense through the middle than the Estate Syrah. Here the whole clusters (100%) are more evident, but what stands out most is the wine's richness and pure power. The whole clusters are evident, but mostly in the wine's texture. Rose petal, mint, chalk and raspberries add the closing shades of nuance.

Extreme amounts of cracked black pepper spice up the crumbled lilac, dark-black-plum and snappy red-currant aromas on the dynamic nose of this cool-climate bottling. There's a wild zestiness to the palate, where the peppery spice plays well with black-raspberry, lavender and rosemary flavors. -M.K.