OVID Napa Valley Syrah
Tasting Note
The 2018 vintage marked an incredible growing season. Evenly paced rains refreshed our vineyard as it slept during the first months of the year. A few warm days gently awoke it from its slumber in late March. April brought some of our biggest rainfall and set the stage for a luxurious growing season. Temperate weather filled the long summer days as the grapes slowly reached their full fruition. A short heatwave in early September brought on the relatively compressed harvest, starting the second week of October and finishing triumphantly just ten days later.
Brimming with exuberance, the 2018 OVID Napa Valley Syrah bursts forth with notes of pure, fresh blueberry, jasmine and peppercorn giving way to aromas of grilled meats, graham cracker, iron and rose petal. Heady and layered, dense and textural, this vivacious wine will reward for years to come.
Vintage Data
- Appellation:
Pritchard Hill - Soil Type:
Hambright soil series - Harvest Date:
October 9 - pH Level:
3.76 - Alcohol:
14.8% - Aging:
22 months
Antonio Galloni
What impresses most is its translucence; power with no excess weight.
The 2018 Syrah is another wine at OVID that has really evolved in recent vintages. Floral and deeply spiced, the Syrah offers a compelling interplay of site and varietal character … Here, too, the picking earlier and less new oak yield a wine endowed with tremendous personality. The Syrah at OVID is always distinctive, as it is again in 2018. What impresses most is its translucence; power with no excess weight.
96 points.
Jeb Dunnuck
It's a thrilling wine.
Coming from the estate’s tiny half-acre of Syrah vines, the 2018 Syrah was all destemmed and brought up on lees (it’s never racked) in a mix of new and used barrels. Dense purple-hued, with a powerful nose of black fruits, smoked game, chocolate, bay leaf, and sagebrush, it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, a deep, plush, concentrated mid-palate, ripe tannins, and a great finish. Another singular wine from this team, it needs 2-4 years of bottle age but will have 15+ years of longevity. It’s a thrilling wine.
97+ points.