Producer: Frei Brothers Winery
Wine:Reserve Russian River Valley Syrah
Vintage: 2004
Country: USA
Appellation: Russian River Valley
Wine Type: Red
Varietal: Syrah 98%, Viognier 2%
Grade: B+
Designation: Excellent Value
Price: $17

Frei has been around since back in the 90’s, the 1890’s. The Swiss Andrew Frei began making wine in the rural Sonoma County back then. The Frei survived the pesky phylloxera bug and then turned the winery over to his sons, Walter and Louis, in 1905 and Frei Brothers Winery began. Interestingly enough, Julio Gallo, yes, that Gallo, began buying grapes from Frei brothers back in 1930’s when the Gallos were just starting their little boutique winery in Modesto. Eventually Gallo would buy Frei Brothers in 1978. Today, Frei produces representative examples of Sonoma County wines. I recently pulled this 2004 Frei Syrah out from my secret stash wine rack where it had been aging about a lengthy week. I needed a red with backbone ready to challenge a couple of lamb steaks on the grill and I thought a Syrah was the ticket to ride. It was good bet. It’s dark, big, and meaty with a slap-in-the-face nose of plummy dark fruit and woodsy aromas. The black cherry-plum wine gets to a jammy point but doesn’t go over the edge. There’s peppery spice combined with some tar and smoke that approaches a rough edge but tapers off into a velvet softness that satisfies.

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