Winemaker Notes
As is traditional from this Pacific Ocean facing block, this Syrah has beautiful aromas of lavender and honeysuckle alongside cacao, saddle leather, and wet stone. The palate is earthy and juicy, with a suave structure and balanced acidity. Silky tannins provide texture on a spicy, full-bodied palate, leading to a long, elegant finish. Open today and enjoy the fresh fruit and flowers or age ten years and beyond as this Syrah continues to develop nuance and complexity.
Blend: 99% Syrah, 1% Viognier
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
From an epic vintage in an epic site for cool-climate Syrah, this bottling merits buying a case and watching it evolve over two decades. Aromas of crushed asphalt, singed meat, charcoal, and plummy fruit stay light on the nose. The palate is the whole rainbow of peppercorns plus sansho pepper, nori wrap, rosemary oil, and pungent elderberry fruit. Drink now–2043.
Cellar Selection -
Vinous
The 2023 Syrah Estate Bien Nacido Vineyard has an alluring nose of bitter cherry, stemmy herbs, iron, exotic spices and menthol. It unleashes itself onto the palate with real old-world sensibility—a wine built on vertical structure and deep mineral character. Cocoa-powder-like tannins embrace the finish. The 2023 is both elegant and powerful, more about texture than overt fruit. It's a style that works beautifully for this legendary site.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Once again a high point in the Bien Nacido Estate portfolio, the 2023 Syrah Bien Nacido Vineyard is entirely sourced from Z Block and was fermented with 40% whole clusters, along with a touch of Viognier. The palate is immediately compelling, opening with a black and blue fruited nose, supplemented by aromas of grilled meat, iron, purple flowers and graphite. The palate is svelte and supple, effortlessly gliding across the palate with a quality measure of density and levity. It culminates with a sumptuous, rich finish tempered by tensile, focused energy and admirable restraint and complexity. This is a pitch-perfect example of contemporary Santa Barbara County Syrah.
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James Suckling
With aromas of cracked peppercorns, bacon fat and cured game and a crunchy, minerally palate structured by steeped tea tannins, this is a wine of power and detail. Flavors of brambleberries, bruised blueberries and star anise, making for a wine of pleasure and potential.
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Wine Spectator
Offers a brilliant hue of plum-fuchsia, with engaging aromatics of crushed rock, dried thyme, white pepper and lavender that fold over onto the palate, joining a mineral-tinged core of damson plum and cherry that shows energy and tension. Finishes with structured tannins while lingering around the core elements.
Bien Nacido Vineyard, one of Santa Maria Valley’s first and most renowned cool-climate vineyards, has been a celebrated source of world-class grapes and estate wines since its founding by 4th generation farming brothers Bob and Steve Miller. The vineyard’s name, meaning "Well Born" in Spanish, reflects its deep historical roots, having been planted on the historic Rancho Tepusquet land grant. The Miller’s planted the first 300 acres of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in 1973, capitalizing on the region's unique geography, climate, and meticulously farmed, sustainable vineyards. These ideal conditions have made Bien Nacido Estate Vineyards synonymous with distinctive and expressive wines.
Widely acclaimed, Bien Nacido has been recognized as one of the top 20 terroirs in the world by Wine Spectator and named by Wine Enthusiast as one of the 10 vineyards behind the world’s most famous wines. Known for its cool-climate Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Syrah, the vineyard continues to thrive thanks to its remarkable terroir and a dedicated team that upholds its legacy of excellence with each passing vintage.
Looking ahead, the fifth generation of the Miller family is carrying this legacy forward, shaping the future of Bien Nacido with the same passion and commitment to quality. In 2005, they introduced the Bien Nacido Estate brand—a true reflection of their enduring dedication to farming and winemaking at this world-renowned vineyard. Each vintage is an opportunity to showcase the vineyard’s unique identity, offering a pure expression of the land that has defined Bien Nacido for generations.
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.”
A lesser-known but elite AVA within the larger Santa Barbara district, the Santa Maria Valley AVA runs precisely west to east starting near the coast. The valley funnels cool, Pacific Ocean air to the vineyards more inland, allowing grapes a longer hang time to ripen evenly and achieve their full potential by harvest time. Combined with minimal rainfall, consistent warm sunshine, and well-drained soils, it is an ideal environment for grape growing.
Many of the wineries here are small and highly respected, having established a reputation in the 1970s and 80s for producing excellent Central Coast wines like Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. More recently, Syrah has also proven quite successful in the region. Many vineyards are owned by growers who sell their grapes to other wineries, so it is common to see the same vineyard name on bottlings from different wineries. Bien Nacido Vineyard is perhaps the best-known and most prestigious.