St. Reginald Parish The Great Pretender Syrah

The Great Pretender is a collaboration between Andrew Young of St. Reginald Parish and Adam Smith, then working in the Eola-Amity Hills and now Director of Winemaking at Skinner Vineyards in El Dorado County, California. The two shared production space in Eola-Amity and the wine reflects both of their sensibilities: Smith's inclination toward fruit presence and texture, and Young's preference for lighter, more drinkable reds.

Syrah for this wine is sourced from sustainably farmed vineyards in Southern Oregon and the Willamette Valley. Production follows the low-intervention approach standard to St. Reginald Parish wines: native yeast fermentation, minimal additions, and no heavy-handed cellar work. The result sits closer to Northern Rhone in spirit than to big, extracted New World Syrah.

The Eola-Amity Hills AVA, where this wine was made, is defined by cool afternoon winds funneling through the Van Duzer Corridor in the Coast Range. Those winds drop temperatures sharply during late summer afternoons, preserving acidity in the grapes. Soils in the region are primarily shallow volcanic basalt from ancient Columbia River lava flows, mixed with marine sedimentary rock, producing concentrated fruit and firm structure.