Wine of the week: Keller Estate, 2017 Rôtie Petaluma Gap, Sonoma County Syrah

Some of the best inventions are born from calamity. When the pandemic and the wildfires bore down on Wine Country this year, vintner Ana Keller put on rose-colored glasses and invented the new label “Casa.”

The vintner of Petaluma’s Keller Estate said the brand, which includes a rosé, “showed us that you can find opportunities in crisis times. But you have to be ready to see them and work hard to make them happen.”

Keller is behind our wine of the week winner — Keller Estate, 2017 Rôtie Petaluma Gap, Sonoma County Syrah, $60, 4.5 stars. This is a gorgeous syrah with tangy red fruit — cherry, cranberry and raspberry — and an undercurrent of spice. This savory syrah with edgy spice is perfect for holiday feasts because it trumpets red fruit and finishes crisp.

Other tasty exotic reds include: Lang & Reed, 2016 Napa Valley Cabernet Franc, $85; Limerick Lane, 2018 Estate Cuvee, $85; Orsi Family, 2015 Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County, Montepulciano, $36, and Quivira, 2017 Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County, Montepulciano, Sangiovese, $45.

With the Rôtie, the style Keller is shooting for is a food-savvy syrah.

“We make wines that are meant to be shared around a table,” Keller explained. “The smoky character lends itself well to all those grilled sides you may be cooking. In particular, our Rôtie has a lovely acid backbone, which makes it juicy and mouthwatering.”

The Rôtie is a tribute to the wines of the Rhone Valley called Côte de Rôtie. There winemakers harvest and co-ferment syrah with a white varietal called viognier.

“We do the wine in this same style,” the vintner explained. “It created a beautiful cool-climate syrah, with some lovely aromatics from the viognier and an excellent tannin structure.”

Keller, 49, was born and raised in Mexico City and her family moved to Petaluma in the early 1980s. Their initial vineyard was planted in 1989 and today they have 92 acres of vines. Keller Estate produces roughly 3,000 cases of wine yearly. But due to the wildfires, the winery will craft closer to 1,200 this year, paring back its pinot noir and syrah production.

Looking forward, Keller said, resilience is key.

By tapping into Naked Wines’ COVID Relief Fund, the winery was able to partner with the online retailer to create the new brand, Casa.

“We’re more stable financially now, have opened ourselves to a broad new audience and it’s a great challenge to produce different wines,” Keller said.

With farming in these uncertain times, the vintner said communication is crucial.

“You won't always have the protocols from Day One, so you have to make sure your team knows that it needs to be open and be a part of keeping everyone safe,” Keller said. ”Both the fires and the pandemic are new to many of us and we don't have all the answers.”

Wine writer Peg Melnik can be reached at peg.melnik@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5310.