MacLaren Wine house spotlight
Steve Law of MacLaren Wine is on camera in Cellar Angels' From Scotland to Sonoma, the Scottish Rhone-trained winemaker behind this 2017 Samantha's Vineyard Syrah.
The market on this bottle
Wine-Searcher tracks this 2017 MacLaren Wine Samantha's Vineyard Syrah, Russian River Valley across the open market. Their published U.S. low is $19.81 and the average is $19.81. Our slash is $25.00.
2017 MacLaren Wine Samantha's Vineyard Syrah, Russian River Valley
Steve Law's steep-terrace Russian River Syrah, Wine Enthusiast 93, a 2017 you can open at twenty-five dollars.
The 2017 Samantha's Vineyard is 100 percent Syrah from Spreckels loam over bedrock: strawberry, blueberry, cranberry, game, mushroom, and black pepper on lifted acidity, now $25.
Cool-climate Syrah from a steep terrace, not a hot-year jam
Steve Law, a Scot who fell for Northern Rhone Syrah while working harvests on HP vacation time, bottles only cool-climate Sonoma Syrah. Samantha's Vineyard is a steep, terraced site on Spreckels loam over bedrock in northern Russian River Valley, picked weeks earlier than his foggiest west-side fruit. Wine Enthusiast 93, Virginie Boone: juicy in strawberry, blueberry, and cranberry, lifted and enduringly fresh, bright acidity boosting both the fruit and the meatiness, a mix of game, mushroom, and black pepper. This is the bottle that puts single-vineyard RRV Syrah on a lamb night at twenty-five dollars.
The house
Steve Law founded MacLaren in 2007 to bottle site-specific cool-climate Syrah after years chasing Northern Rhone on French harvest trips.
The wine
100% Samantha's Vineyard Syrah. Steep terrace, Spreckels loam, fog after heat. Rhone-inspired, purity over power.
The scores
Wine Enthusiast 93, Virginie Boone: strawberry, blueberry, cranberry, game, mushroom, black pepper.
The drinker
Red fruit and pepper first. Decant 30 to 60 minutes. Serve 60 to 65 F. Roast lamb or sausage and mushrooms.
Strawberry and blueberry, then game, mushroom, and pepper
Boone found juicy strawberry, blueberry, and cranberry, lifted and enduringly fresh, with bright acidity boosting both the fruit and the meatiness, game, mushroom, and black pepper. The live sheet adds a pretty, cool-climate line: vibrant juicy fruit, lift, and enduring freshness. Nine years in bottle have moved the savory notes forward while the red fruit still leads.
A cooler, extended season that kept acidity and red fruit. Law's Samantha's fruit comes off the terrace weeks before his latest sites. This 2017 is in its drinking window now.
Strawberry, blueberry, cranberry, juicy red fruit, black pepper.
Lifted, cool-climate acidity, fine tannin, Rhone-inspired purity.
Game, mushroom, enduring freshness. Decant 30 to 60 minutes. Serve 60 to 65 F.
One terrace, one grape, a Rhone brief in Sonoma fog
Single-vineyard Syrah from a steep terraced site on Spreckels loam over bedrock. Law crafts in a Northern Rhone key: purity, lift, and layered complexity instead of California heat. Cool nights after warm days keep the wine in strawberry and pepper instead of jam.
MacLaren is Syrah first. Vineyard names on the reds, family names on the other varieties.
Decant 30 to 60 minutes. Serve 60 to 65 F. Large aromatic glasses.
A Scot who came to Sonoma for Syrah, not Pinot
Law left a tech career and a string of Rhone harvests to bottle cool-climate Syrah in a county famous for Pinot. Samantha's is one of those sites.
Founded 2007. The brief is site-specific Russian River Syrah, not a kitchen-sink red.
Samantha's sits on Limerick Lane country in northern RRV: terrace, drainage, fog after heat.
The 2017 is that terrace at Wine Enthusiast 93: strawberry, pepper, and a price that still startles.
Lamb on the roast, sausage with mushrooms
Cool-climate Syrah wants herb, game, and a little fat. Roast lamb and a spicy sausage-mushroom saute are the landing.
Two plates. One roast leg of lamb. One sauteed spicy sausage and mushrooms. Both can take Samantha's fruit and pepper.
Decant 30 to 60 minutes. Serve 60 to 65 F. Large aromatic glasses.
Rosemary Garlic Lamb Chops
Herb-crusted lamb for Syrah's strawberry, pepper, and game.
Why it works: Lamb fat rounds tannin. Rosemary echoes the savory herbal line.
View Recipe for rosemary garlic lamb chops (opens in a new tab)
Wild Mushroom Risotto
Mushrooms echo the wine's game and forest notes while keeping the dish graceful enough for cool-climate Syrah.
Why it works: Earth pulls out mushroom, pepper, and meatiness. Acidity keeps the risotto from feeling heavy.
View Recipe for wild mushroom risotto (opens in a new tab)Put this Samantha's Vineyard Syrah in the cart
Steve Law, Wine Enthusiast 93, single-vineyard RRV Syrah. Twenty-five dollars against a $54 typical retail.
Put it in the cart. This is the MacLaren bottle for a table that wants cool-climate Syrah, not a hot-year jam.
