Rust Wine Co.

Syrah is the original raison d’être of Ryan’s project with Rust, a vehicle for site-specific Syrah, and while we only have two of their Syrahs to start, and while Syrah was devastated by the frost in March 2024, I am very proud to get to represent this particularly winning interpretation of our terroir, especially in the Lost Horn Vineyard* in OK Falls. It’s picked earlier than many producers in BC choose to, knowing that the phenolic ripeness is already there, and what is lost with more UV is what is loved about so many Northern Rhône examples. Bringing it off the vine earlier also gives us that beautiful, haunting structure we love. As above, this is a 100% whole-berry spontaneous indigenous yeast ferment, aged entirely in neutral French oak. A more food-friendly style. Sadly, the next vintage after this is its last… all the Syrah in this vineyard died, and Ryan has boldly chosen to replant with …drum roll… Mondeuse!! So this beautiful wine is an artifact of the bold paths Syrah was striding in OK Falls, foiled by our more-and-more unpredictable weather swings. This wine is about delicacy.

*Planted in 2016 with clone 877, and the soils are clay loam with layers of gravel and small boulders.