Each week I pick out one wine to highlight as my wine of the week.  This wine may be an outstanding wine, a great value or just something very interesting.

 “Adams offers a bridge between Paso’s lavish ways and a more cerebral effort”

Jon Bonne – “A Guide to the Producers and Wines Behind A Revolution in Taste”

Ledge Vineyards is a winery that appeared on my radar over a year ago.  I “met” the owner/winemaker, Mark Adams, via Twitter and after exchanging tweets about wine, he sent me a bottle of his 2009 vintage of this wine to sample.  It was a stunning bottle of wine, I needed more.  Unfortunately, that vintage was sold out.  I quickly joined their mailing list and waited for the upcoming release of the next vintage.  I also let my Twitter followers know this was a winery to check out before it was too late. I know at several of my “friends” signed up.  When the wine was released, I quickly ordered a nice stash of wine.  This vintage is now sold out.  Hopefully I helped play a part in the wine’s popularity.  I’m sure the praise and high scores the wine received from Wine Advocate and Wine Spectator helped, but I found them first.

The owner/winemaker is Mark Adams.  Mark is also the assistant winemaker for another outstanding Paso Robles winery, Saxum.  The San Francisco Chronicle and Jon Bonné in particular recently named Mark in column called “Winemakers to Watch 2014”.  Click here to read the story.

The Winery

The Adams Ranch is in the Willow Creek region on the west side of Paso Robles and rests on a plateau with the SantaLuciaMountains as a backdrop, with a steep drop to Vineyard Drive in the foreground. The vineyard is almost entirely Syrah, with some Grenache and Mourvedre peppered in. We expand every year at a snail’s pace, with 25 dry farmed acres as the ultimate goal. The vines are own rooted and reared in the home nursery after pruning each year. Once established, the vines are dry farmed, field-blended and co-fermented using only native yeasts and are aged in neutral oak barrels.

2010 Ledge Syrah Adams Ranch Vineyard – SRP $55

Ledge Vineyards is the winery owned by the One Time Spaceman, Mark Adams.  I was lucky enough to secure a sample of the 2009 vintage of this wine from Mark.  After two sips of the wine, I immediately joined the mailing list.  After securing my spot on the list, I started telling everyone who would listen to get on the list.  If you didn’t hear or heed my earlier advice, you still have time; the 2011 vintage is still available.

For more information, order wine, or to join the mailing list, click here.

This wine has 14.5% abv and is sealed with a natural cork and wax coating.

My Tasting Note

The wine is a deep purple color.  The very inviting nose has blackberries, minerals, smoke, raspberries, eucalyptus, black pepper, violets, roasted herbs, and a touch of dark bittersweet chocolate.  This has medium to full body, moderate ripe tannins and good acidity.  On the palate this is rich and plush with nice layers of fruit, spice and minerals.  The finish is very long with rich fruit, spice, minerals and a floral note seeming to hand on forever.  This is on the young side but already a stunning wine.  This will be a nice one to follow over the next decade, maybe even longer.  (94 pts)

2010 Ledge Syrah Adams Ranch Vineyard

Connect with me

You can follow me on Twitter for more wine info, potential food pairings, and an occasional recipe or two.  Be warned, I’m also a sports fan and there are occasional Pittsburgh Penguins, Steelers, and Pirates tweets.  I attended the University of South Carolina, so during football season, there will also be some Gamecock posts.

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Cheers!

This is original to CliffsWinePicks.com.  Copyright 2013 Cliff’s Wine Picks.

All rights reserved.

***** Shameless Self Promotion *****

Here is a link to a YouTube video of me getting “coal” from Santa for being named the “Nicest Person in Social Media” in 2012.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOvQTeGR3-c

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Notes – I use the “official” Cellar Tracker name for the wines.  I use Cellar Tracker to help manage and organize my cellar.  I highly recommend checking it out at www.cellartracker.com.  Loading you existing cellar is a lot less intimidating than it would first appear.  There is a good chance 99% of your wine is already in the system, so you generally only need to enter part of the wine’s name and the system will find it for you.

Prices noted are the prices I paid at the time of purchase.  I don’t shop around to find the best prices, but my local store is usually VERY competitive.  I generally get case discounts, and since I work there part time, I get a 5% discount.  Wines purchased direct from a winery do not include any shipping charges.  None of the prices include the sales tax.

All wines that were sent to me free of charge to sample will be noted and I will show suggested prices when available.

Cheers!