Rusack Santa Barbara Syrah 2008
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Robert
Parker
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Winemaker Notes
81% Syrah, 8% Petite Sirah, 11% Grenache.
The Syrah varietal is Santa Barbara County's great noble red. This bottling is abundant with suggestions of blackberry, blueberry, and hints of vanilla. Its silky texture carries ripe fruit and tannins on the palate.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Complex and layered, offering a firm core of dried berry, mineral, cedar and sage, with dashes of pepper and spice. Full-bodied, sleek and focused, ending with a touch of creamy oak. Drink now through 2010.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The outstanding 2008 Syrah Santa Barbara exhibits mineral-laced, dark raspberry, kirsch, and blacker fruit characteristics, a velvety texture, medium to full body, and an elegant, soft, seductive personality. Drink it over the next 4-5 years.
Rusack was established in 1995 by Geoff Rusack and Alison Wrigley Rusack with a commitment to creating world-class wines. In the years since then, this dedication to quality has meant some dramatic changes at the winery.
The most visible change is in the vineyard. Following the 2001 harvest, many of the original vines were pulled out and replanted under the guidance of winemaker John Falcone. Utilizing cutting edge technology and taking advantage of Ballard Canyon’s unique terroir, varieties to be grown were carefully chosen and limited to those clones best suited to the microclimate. Syrah, Sangiovese, and Sauvignon Blanc have been planted, along with smaller lots of Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot to be blended into the renowned "Anacapa."
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.