Peay Vineyards, Estate Syrah

This is one of the most incredible California Syrahs I’ve ever had, a bottle that stands comfortably alongside many of the top expressions from the Northern Rhône. This is soul-stirring red wine made in one of the most beautiful places on earth.

Drive west from Santa Rosa, about an hour north of San Francisco , and take River Road as it winds along the Russian River. Push farther,  past Guerneville, past Monte Rio , until the vineyards thin and the redwoods begin to close in. Eventually you climb. The air cools. The road narrows. You crest the ridgeline near Annapolis and the temperature drops. The wind hits you. Marine fog drifts inland and moves across the rocky sandstone and shale slopes where the vines are planted, cooling the fruit and stretching the growing season deep into fall. You don’t see the Pacific yet, but you feel it in your bones.

This is the true West Sonoma Coast.

I went to college here — Sonoma State. I learned this county by driving it end to end. From the southeastern edge near the San Pablo Bay, brushing up against Napa, all the way northwest to where Sonoma County meets Mendocino and Highway 1 hugs the coastline. Nearly three hours corner to corner. Warm valleys. River fog. Volcanic ridges. Coastal forest. Sonoma is one of the most diverse wine regions in America.

And the wines that stay with you — the ones that feel alive years later — tend to come from the margins. From colder ground. From places where ripening is slow and structure is earned.

Peay Estate lives on that margin.

Founded in the late 1990s by brothers Nick and Andy Peay and Nick’s wife, Vanessa Wong, the estate was the result of a deliberate search for maritime ground near the Pacific. They wanted a longer growing season. They wanted wind and fog shaping the fruit. They found it on a rugged 53-acre hilltop above the Wheatfield Fork river, roughly four miles from the ocean. They planted it themselves and built the estate from scratch. From day one, it has been fully family-run — Nick and Vanessa farming and making the wines, Andy running the business and bringing them to market. Over two decades later, Peay remains one of the benchmarks for serious, ocean-driven California wine.

In the cellar, they don’t try to outsmart the vineyard. The fruit is picked by hand, sorted carefully, and a healthy portion of whole cluster goes into the ferment — not for show, but because that stem inclusion brings lift, spice, and structure that fits this cold site. Fermentations are native. Extraction is thoughtful. The barrels are largely neutral French oak, because this isn’t about layering flavor — it’s about letting that windswept ridge speak clearly.

The 2022 Syrah tastes exactly like where it comes from. Blackberry skin and dark raspberry at the core, then cracked black pepper, violet, olive, and that savory edge of smoked meat that great coastal Syrah delivers so naturally. There’s a subtle saline thread running through it — not salty, just alive — a reminder that the Pacific is only a few miles away. The palate has real shape. Medium-bodied, structured, bright with natural acidity, and framed by fine tannins that give it presence without weight. The finish hangs on — mineral, savory, composed.

This is Syrah I want at a real table. Lamb over hardwood coals. Duck breast with cracked pepper. A ribeye sliced thick, juices running. Open it early. Let it breathe. Serve it around cellar temperature in proper stems and give it the space it deserves.