First wine we are sampling of Gio's wines. Insanely dark in color, dark purplish red with an almost black core. Very intense aromas with a gamey but slightly tight attack straight from the bottle. As it opened it there were some notes of smoked/cured meats, grilled herbs, iron and thick savory notes. Day two and day three only added complexity to the nose with some coriander, cloves, cinnamon and light caramel. Full bodied with moderate plus tannins (7.5/10). Very dusty and tight with slight minerality on day one. Needed to open up and when it did the complexity only grew with savory notes, very dark fruits and dark cocoa. Slightly dry and long finish. Needs some time to fully develop but will be even better in a year or two.

Made of 100% Syrah, of which 66% comes from the Shadow Canyon Vineyard located in the York Mountain AVA which is on the western border of the Paso Robles AVA and 34% from the Terra Bella Vineyard located in the Adelaida District sub-AVA in Paso Robles. Both vineyards have great terriors suitable for growing Syrah. Planted with a combined number of five clones including the Tablas Creek Clone and each vineyard has an elevation around 1,600 feet. Both sets of syrah are cofermented and include 25% whole cluster for some added varietal characteristics. Aged for 22 months in 70% new French oak. Only 70 cases produced.

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