2009 Syrah Cinematique Larner Vineyard

Paul Lato told me that his basic philosophy is to buy the best possible fruit that he can get, from the best-tended vineyards, "because it is completely obvious that this is the only way to make superior wine. All the hard work in the world won't make average fruit into excellent wine." That's an expensive proposition, he admits, and by necessity limits the scale of his work. Lato's production was especially low in 2009, when severely reduced yields cut his production by over 50%. All of the grapes here are destemmed and the wines are raised in anywhere from 25% to 100% new French oak "from the best tonneliers, regardless of price, because you can't have mediocre wood ruining great, expensive fruit."

I was blown away by the wines I tasted from Paul Lato. These are some of the most pure, thrilling wines being made in California today. The wines are available in a small number of high-end restaurants, including The French Laundry, or through the mailing list. For what it's worth, I signed up right away. The Pinots are made from fully destemmed fruit, see a fairly lengthy cold soak of 7 days and are aged in 50-80% new oak. The Syrahs are also fully destemmed and co-fermented with 5% Viognier. They are also much smaller productions, so the amount of new oak is mostly driven by practical demands. The reds are lightly fined with egg whites and bottled unfiltered.