2005 Lagier Meredith Syrah

Lagier Meredith Vineyard was established in 1986 when Stephen Lagier and Carole Meredith bought a 4.5-acre vineyard in Mount Veeder. The couple had backgrounds in winemaking. Stephen worked for Robert Mondavi and Carole was a professor at UC Davis in the department of Viticulture and Enology, where, among other subjects, she did research on the origins of wine grapes. They planted vines in 1994 and released their first commercial vintage in 2000. Vineyards are planted to Syrah, Mondeuse, Malbec and Zinfandel. Lagier Meredith wines have won praise from reviewers and ratings in the mid-90s. Robert M. Parker Jr. has written that Carole Meredith’s Mt. Veeder Syrah is “consistently one of the great Syrahs made in California.”

Mount Veeder AVA was established in 1993, though its origins as a wine producing district date to the 19th century. A German Presbyterian pastor named Peter Veeder was one of the first landowners in the area, and by 1864 one of his neighbors, a German sea captain named Stelham Wing, was producing wine commercially. The area continued to attract German agricultural entrepreneurs, some of whom established the estate that would later become the Christian Brothers Mont La Salle winery. Today the AVA includes about 1,000 acres of vineyards, most of them at relatively high altitudes. The Mayacamas vineyard, for instance, is at 2,400 feet. Cabernet Sauvignon is the most frequently planted grape, followed by Malbec, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.

This grape is grown in milder climates and produces a medium-to full-bodied wine. It is also known as Shiraz, but should not be confused with Petit Sirah, which was developed by crossing Syrah with Peloursin.