2000 Syrah Timbervine Ranch Russian River Valley

"Everyone around here wants to talk about how ripe they got their grapes and about their new vinification equipment," said Alex Davis. "I just want to make wine the way they made it a hundred years ago." Davis, who does not especially enjoy drinking California wine and whose wines do not resemble those made in Russian River Valley vineyards around the family estate on Westside Road, was clearly influenced by his enology studies and work experience in France in the mid-1990s. He pumps over the must during the first few days of fermentation, then punches down the cap twice a day once the fermentation really gets going, "unless the tannins are getting aggressive." He presses just before dryness, then does a two-day settling. The wines remain on their fine lees for up to nine months, when Davis racks them prior to the heat of summer. The finished wines are generally lower in alcohol than the California norm.