Dierberg Syrah 2010
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Connoisseurs' Guide
Dierberg follows up its outstanding 2009 offering with another splendid Syrah that hits one high point after the other. It is rife with deep and exceptionally well-defined fruit, and its insistent themes of blackberries, spice and cured meats do not ease up even as a fair bit of grippy young tannin takes hold. It is ripe but eschews jamminess and shows very good structure and balance for the solid, rather gutsy wine that it is. While sure to impress in the short term, it is not meant for hasty drinking, and it can be held for eight to ten years before reaching what is certain to be its considerable best.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Inky colored and thrillingly concentrated, yet staying light and graceful on the palate, the 2010 Syrah boasts fantastic aromas and flavors of spice-drenched black raspberries, licorice, roasted meats, chocolate and ground herbs to go with a rich, concentrated and structured palate feel. Still tasting like a barrel sample, this serious Syrah needs 2-3 years of bottle age and will knock your socks off through 2020! Drink 2015-2020+.
In 1996, with forty years of winemaking experience, Jim and Mary Dierberg’s dream of producing wines worthy of their 250 year plan became a reality. After a long search through France and Napa, while learning the craft and making wine in the mid-west, they discovered the potential of Santa Barbara’s cool coastal valleys. The family planted two estates -first their namesake Dierberg Vineyard and later Drum Canyon Vineyard – both under their DIERBERG label. These estates, along with the family’s iconic warm climate site Star Lane Vineyard, culminated in a trio of peerless properties in Santa Barbara County.
Jim and Mary are no newcomers to wine. Since 1974, they’ve owned the Hermannhof Winery in Hermann, Missouri, which was one of the United States’ most significant wine-growing regions prior to Prohibition. Located about an hour’s drive west of St. Louis, Hermannhof is one of America’s oldest wineries. The Dierbergs have dedicated the past 40 years to renovating the property and raising its reputation as a place for education and entertainment. While the town’s history and charm brought the Dierbergs to Hermann, the region’s Midwestern climate cannot support the traditional European varietals that Jim and Mary have become fans of over the years. In the 1980s, the Dierbergs began looking outside of Missouri for a place to plant that passion. After realizing that properties in Bordeaux and Napa Valley weren’t suitable for their desires, they chanced upon the Santa Barbara area in 1996.
Today, the entire operation is one big family affair, with the Dierbergs’ grown children and their spouses intimately involved in the day-to-day operations of the vineyard and winery.
Esteemed winemaker, Tyler Thomas started with Dierberg and Star Lane Vineyards in the Summer of 2013. His affinity with the Central Coast started early, with his first full-time harvest job, at Fiddlehead Cellars. Though his career later steered him up to Sonoma, his recent return has been welcomed. “The entire valley made its imprint on me then as I sampled vineyards in both Happy Canyon and Sta. Rita Hills. To be returning now after 10 years to make site driven estate wines is thrilling.”
Thomas has desired to produce wines of special character consistently and efficiently each vintage. “My goal is to make wines that please by their compelling nature. That is you find yourself both hedonistically and intellectually compelled to go back to the wine over and over again. Many wines can draw your first glance, but I want one that can sustain your desire.” Thomas believes that to do this we must cultivate not only vineyards and wine, but people. “I believe the greatest wines are not made but discovered by quality oriented individuals.” Many say that great wine starts in the vineyard (and it does), but Tyler’s goal will be to distill what truly makes an impact to the governing components of why a wine tastes the way it tastes and focus on those things. These vineyards offer an incredible viticulture wonderland for continuing to discover the compelling nature of their terroirs.
Thomas is responsible for the day-to-day details of winemaking, from harvest to the final blending of the wines. He completed his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Botany at Colorado State University, and received a masters in Viticulture and Enology at U.C. Davis.
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”
The largest and perhaps most varied of California’s wine-growing regions, the Central Coast produces a good majority of the state's wine. This vast California wine district stretches from San Francisco all the way to Santa Barbara along the coast, and reaches inland nearly all the way to the Central Valley.
Encompassing an extremely diverse array of climates, soil types and wine styles, it contains many smaller sub-AVAs, including San Francisco Bay, Monterey, the Santa Cruz Mountains, Paso Robles, Edna Valley, Santa Ynez Valley and Santa Maria Valley.
While the Central Coast California wine region could probably support almost any major grape varietiy, it is famous for a few Central Coast reds and whites. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel are among the major ones. The Central Coast is home to many of the state's small, artisanal wineries crafting unique, high-quality wines, as well as larger producers also making exceptional wines.