2002 Syrah Eisele Vineyard Napa Valley

The Araujo Estate 2002 flagship offering was bottled late, in November of 2004, as the team felt the wine was very backward during its first year in barrel, with big, chunky tannins early on.Nowadays, all the red wines here get 28 to 35 days of maceration and remain longer on their lees, which winemaker Francoise Peschon feels is the key to getting rounder wines with more refined tannins.Incidentally, this estate pulled out about 25% of its cabernet after the 2000 harvest, because these 38-year-old vines were suffering from leaf roll virus, produced tiny crop levels, and even then struggled to get ripe.The new plantings, which use the old Eisele clone, will produce their first commercial crop in 2006.

Bart Araujo described 2001 as "an easy, classic year."But following a cool spring in 2002, "we were worried that the heat spikes in September were pushing the grape sugars up faster than real phenolic ripeness. Both harvests ended at about the same time, but the 2002 crop had slightly less hang time. The 2002 wine may have a bit more power and a bit less elegance."Incidentally, Araujo was highly optimistic about his young 2003: We had great weather after veraison with consistently foggy mornings followed by beautiful 80 degree afternoons."In 2002 for the first time, all of the property's red wines were vinified entirely with wild yeasts. I have included a new tasting note on the superb 2002 sauvignon blanc, which I originally tasted last winter right after it was bottled.