2005 Syrah Timbervine Ranch Russian River Valley

Unlike many New World winemakers of his generation (circa 1970s), Alex Davis grew up in his family winery, and recently moved his own young family onto the property where he can literally walk out the door into his vines. "All of our own vines are right here, around the winery and not up and down the road, or the valley. The vineyards are really our yard." On the subject of recent vintages, Davis noted that "2005 is a lot like 1998, but a notch above in terms of fruit sweetness," hastening to add that many people hear "1998" and think "washout" without considering that chardonnay and pinot noir suffered far less in that vintage than the Bordeaux varieties. As usual, Davis's latest set of releases will appeal more to fans of the understated rather than boisterous style.

Alex Davis is one of the more idiosyncratic winemakers I've met from California, producing wines that are distinctly aloof and sometimes inscrutable but almost always distinctive. Organic practices rule here, all the way down to the bio-diesel trucks and cars the family and staff drive and the hairy-looking vineyards surrounding the winery. Davis also marches to his own drummer when it comes to release schedule so any given variety of vintages might be available at a given time-hence the mix of years reviewed below. He also hates to see his wines opened too soon after release because, as he says, "they haven't been given a chance to become themselves."