Failla Estate, Syrah, Sonoma County, Fort Ross-Seaview, 2012

Ehren Jordan was one of the first to realise the climatic misconceptions about Syrah, and his low-yielding estate parcel almost at the edge of the Pacific offers one of the state’s most powerful specimens candied lavender, salty and oily black olive and a thicket-like herbal side, with luscious red and blue fruit.