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Rubaiyat Vineyard
Sonoma Mountain Appellation
Tom and Jaleh Smith provide Syrah from their 3 acre vineyard high
up on Sonoma Mountain on Sonoma Mountain Road. The vineyard faces
out toward the west and is planted to 2 selections of Syrah (the
French Noir clone, and the Australian Shiraz selection) and these
tend to ripen differently even though planted on the same rootstock.
This is also a challenging place to grow grapes, with cool afternoon
breezes coming in from Petaluma and tough cracking clay soils
that naturally limit crop yields and vine growth. Wind and birds
are major factors in vineyard management here and the vineyard
is netted to keep the birds (from smaller birds to turkeys) at
bay. With the first crop coming in 2000 (it went into the Young
Vine Syrah), this vineyard continues to improve as the vines increase
in age. Even so, the 2001 Noir selection was bottled as a vineyard
designated wine and received a silver medal at the Sonoma Harvest
Fair in 2003. The Australian selection forms the backbone of the
2001 Shiraz. Syrah from this site shows a strong blackberry note
with hints of black olive and pepper and is a major component
in the 2001 Sonoma Hillside Vineyard Syrah.
