Winemaker Notes
The 2019 Andremily No.8 Syrah. The 2019 Andremily No.8 is a mind-bogglingly delicious concoction. The fruit sources are White Hawk, Larner, Harrison-Clark, and Alta Mesa Vineyards. This beauty is sure to please, offering a rich full and seamless texture. On the palate Black and Blue fruit, Cassis, grilled meats, and pepper spice elements. This wine will continue to invite you back to the glass for another whiff of the ever evolving, soaring aromatics, and its long and persistent finish. Sure to find itself on the short list of their best-ever, the 2019 Andremily No.8 is sure to please.
Blend: 88% Syrah, 9% Mourvedre, 3% Viognier
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Another perfect wine from Jim Binns is the 2019 No 8, a blend of 88% Syrah, 9% Mourvèdre, and 3% Viognier. This full-bodied powerhouse of a wine has that rare mix of richness and elegance as well as a stunning array of red, blue, and black fruits along with notes of ground pepper, violets, and spring flowers. The balance is as good as it gets, it has ultra-fine tannins, and again, a mix of power and finesse that's something to behold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2019 No. 8 is a blend of 88% Syrah, 9% Mourvèdre and 3% Viognier, made with 45% whole clusters. Fruit comes from several vineyards including White Hawk, Larner, Harrison-Clarke and Alta Mesa. It was matured for 22 months in 65% new French barriques and 35% used barriques. Opaque ruby-purple in color, it is bursting with pure scents of blueberry liqueur, black cherry jam, aniseed, coffee beans and soaring violet perfume. The full-bodied palate is powerful, with a firm frame of rounded tannins, gentle bursts of fresh acidity and a very long, very fragrant finish. This structured yet elegant Syrah offers loads of latent accents that hint at further development in bottle, and this will be very long-lived in the cellar. 840 cases and a few magnums were made. It will be sold as part of a three-bottle box set ($330), and magnums will be sold as part of a box set with the 2019 Andremily Mourvèdre.
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.”
With a dry and mild climate cooled significantly by moist ocean fog and breezes, Santa Barbara County is a grape-grower’s dream. Part of the larger Central Coast appellation, Santa Barbara is home to Santa Maria Valley and Santa Ynez Valley. The conditions here provide an opportunity for nearly effortless production of high-quality cool-climate Central Coast wines. This is also the site of the 2004 film Sideways, which caused Pinot Noir’s popularity to skyrocket and brought new acclaim to the region.
Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are the stars of Santa Barbara, producing wines marked by racy acidity. Crisp Sauvignon Blanc and savory Syrah are also important. The region is home to many young and enthusiastic winemakers eager to experiment with less common varieties including Chenin Blanc, Grüner Veltliner, Trousseau Gris, Gamay and Cabernet Franc, making it an exciting area to watch.