Jolie-Laide Syrah Hawks Butte Vineyard Yorkville Highlands 2022

Add 3+ bottles to your cart and receive an additional 51% savings!

For lovers of more savory and delicately styled, Northern Rhone-esque, cool-climate Syrahs – have we got the treat for you today! Coming from one of California’s most on-the-rise, cult-y producers, Jolie-Laide, this single-vineyard 2022 Syrah from Mendocino County’s Yorkville Highlands is powerful, vibrant, and elegantly layered. It’s under $40 when you get one or two, dropping to just $20 for three or more bottles!

Jolie-Laide is a tiny, hands-on winemaking project built around a “less is more” philosophy. Founder and somm-turned-winemaker Scott Schultz has said his vision is to make pretty wines from ugly vines, the very name “Jolie-Laide” loosely translating to “pretty-ugly.” This means: an emphasis on minimal-intervention practices, rare grape varieties, and terroir-driven character via foot crushing, whole cluster-fermentation, native yeasts, and neutral oak or inert vessel aging to preserve purity.

They source fruit from small, sustainable, often organically farmed vineyards across Northern California – typically taking under-appreciated or less common varieties – and treat each vintage and each wine almost as its own unique piece of art, allowing the unique traits of the environment and grapes to speak for themselves. The result is wines known for freshness, clarity, and a kind of honest expressiveness – particularly in this 2022 Syrah from Mendocino County’s Hawks Butte Vineyard.

The site sits 30 miles from the Pacific Ocean and at 1,500 feet elevation with south-facing vines grown on steep slopes. The stony soils retain heat while the cool winds extend the growing season and allow the grapes to develop incredible acidity. At only 12.4%, this is a lighter-bodied Syrah than some, though its intensity is anything but lacking. Expressive notes of juicy blueberries and pomegranate seeds give way to tender accents of dried lavender, olive tapenade, graphite, and peppercorn. It’s fresh and delicate, yet potently complex and spicy – and an insane value at only $20 for three or more. Truly, get as MUCH as you possibly can. You’ll be thankful you did!

PAIRING IDEAS: I had an unbelievable dish of crispy pork belly with grilled pear and pear mostarda at a restaurant recently, and it would be a truly unreal match with this Syrah.