Colgin Syrah IX Estate: A Complete Retrospective

BY STEPHEN TANZER | APRIL 17, 2017

Ann Colgin established Colgin Cellars in 1992 and then in 1998 purchased a 125-acre high-altitude estate on volcanic soil in the Pritchard Hill area overlooking Lake Hennessey. She and her husband Joe Wender named their property IX Estate because it was parcel #9 when previously owned by the Long Family and because Ann married Joe on September 9 (9/9). In 2000, they planted 20 acres of vines on IX Estate and in 2002 they completed their winery there and vinified their first harvest—not just the IX Red Wine (a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot) but a 100% Syrah that was stunningly rich and complex from the get-go. Subsequent vintages have only proven the site’s greatness for Syrah.

Colgin Cellars' IX Estate Vineyard

Planting Syrah Was a Risk

At a comprehensive vertical tasting of the IX Estate Syrah at the property in March, Colgin told me that she and her husband had long enjoyed the wines of the northern Rhône Valley and that she had never intended to plant her Pritchard Hill property entirely to Cabernet Sauvignon. But planting four acres of Syrah was a risk at the time. “The Syrah project was really our own idea. Most of our friends, as well as our vineyard manager David Abreu, thought we were crazy,” she said, noting that she worked with clones that originated in Côte-Rôtie and Hermitage, as well as an Entav clone that contributes bright berry and floral notes to the earth, meat and savory spices brought by the northern Rhône plant material. The idea proved to be a sound one, and all four parcels planted were used to make the IX Estate Syrah from the beginning, although one block was ultimately determined not to be at the same level of quality and was replanted with better Syrah material after the 2011 harvest.

Syrah in Napa Valley is always a tricky commercial proposition. One reason is that, as Syrah bottlings vary so widely in style in California, consumers often have little idea what to expect from a particular version, so it can be challenging for producers to sell significant quantities of a given Syrah. Then, too, inexpensive bottlings of Syrah, which are rare, tend to be rather generic in style. But even the priciest and most distinctive versions often represent a financial sacrifice for an estate, as the sites that can produce high-quality Syrah could in most cases be used to grow Cabernet Sauvignon, which generally commands a considerably higher price in the marketplace. In fact, Colgin’s Syrah has always been considerably less expensive than their Cabernet-based wines - but don’t feel sorry for the winery. The current vintage of their Syrah retails for $250 a bottle (vs. $450 for the Cabernets), making it the most expensive Syrah in America. In this case, you get what you pay for.