The grapes for our 2005 Raya Jade Syrah come form Crawford Vineyard. Crawford Vineyard is located just north of Prosser, Washington in the Yakima Valley. Crawford is perhaps the best Syrah vineyard in the Yakima Valley and this wine is another faithful expression of that quality. In this wine you will find aromas of black cherries, leather and pepper along with flavors like raspberry, blackberry and chocolate followed by vanilla and fresh aromatic herbs on the finish. The grapes were carefully picked and then were gently destemmed, and allowed to cold macerate for four days. After 34 days of skin contact and about 2% sugar remaining in the grapes they were lightly pressed and the wine transferred to French oak barrels (25% new) to finish fermentation. This wine aged for 14 months in barrel. It will cellar for a decade or more but is delicious now. The wine was racked a total of four times to achieve clarity and stability. It is unfined. 289 cases produced.