Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
I also loved the 2021 Syrah Purisima Mountain Vineyard, a darker hued, classic Syrah with beautiful black fruit, peppery herbs, bay leaf, iron, and gamey nuances. Pure, medium to full-bodied, silky, and elegant, it's another terrific effort from this team with tons to love. All destemmed Syrah from a great site at the top of Ballard Canyon, it spent 18 months in one-third new French oak prior to bottling. It’s well worth your time and money and will have 7-8 years of longevity.
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Wine Enthusiast
This wine is fun now and will surely be solid later. Clean and easygoing aromas of boysenberry syrup lead from the nose into a firmly structured palate with blackberry and tar flavors. Drink now–2039.
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Vinous
The 2021 Syrah Purisima Mountain Vineyard is a potent, dense wine. Black cherry, plum, menthol, licorice, black olive and spice are all amplified in this potent, heady wine. There's a touch of new wood here, nicely integrated in the wine's fabric. This is a very typical Ballard Canyon Syrah.
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.”
Ranging from cool and foggy in the west to warm and dry in the east, the Santa Ynez Valley is a climatically diverse growing area. The most expansive AVA within the larger Santa Barbara County region, Santa Ynez is also home to a wide variety of soil types and geographical features. The appellation is further divided into four distinct sub-AVAs—Sta. Rita Hills, Ballard Canyon, Los Olivos District and Happy Canyon—each with its own defining characteristics.
A wide selection of grapes is planted here—more than sixty different varieties, and counting. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir dominate in the chilly west, while Zinfandel, Rhône blends, and Bordeaux blends rule the arid east. Syrah is successful at both ends of the valley, with a lean and peppery, Old-World sensibility closer to the coast and lush berry fruit further inland.