Lot 612
2024 Diamond Mountain Syrah

$80+/bottle under the original label

Lot 612 is as fine an expression of this Rhône varietal as you can find in Napa: a 100% estate-grown, single-vineyard mountain gem. We obviously can’t say much about the winery given how tiny the list of possibilities is; however, we can say that what’s in the bottle is sublime. Our source has harnessed Syrah’s innate character and married it to Diamond Mountain’s distinctive volcanic terroir and high-elevation elegance. Good luck to the average civilian trying to hunt down a taste of this small-lot production – a few library vintages appear at various boutique retailers once in a while, but why send yourself on a scavenger hunt when we’ve done all the hard work for you?

Intensely dark in the glass, the nose is filled with concentrated blackberry, plum sauce reduction, and blackcurrant, layered with cedar, black peppercorn, and a distinctly earthy terroir. The entry is powerful and savory from the outset, carrying waves of dark blue and black fruit with accents of milk chocolate, iodine, and earth. Fabulous structure meets dusty tannins without overwhelming its sense of balance or precision, and the finish is both resonant and resinous – a cascade of dark fruit, barrel spice, vanilla bean, and iris over an almost infinite umami current. This will be delicious for a long time.