Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Bold amounts of green peppercorn, sansho pepper, mixed olives and iodine meet with a tense black-raspberry aroma on this cool-climate Syrah. The palate is wild and amazingly herbal in flavor, with tea leaf, nettle and bay leaf elements and just enough lingering dark-berry fruit to fill it out. Editors' Choice.
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Jeb Dunnuck
From the same vineyard (John Sebastiano), the 2018 Syrah Franc de Pied is deeper purple and offers more density in its blue and black fruits, ground pepper, smoked game, and beef blood-like aromas and flavors. This rich, full-bodied beauty has ripe tannins, good acidity, and again, offers a Cornas-like character. I love it, and it's the finest wine I've tasted under this label.
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 superior source of California Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, Sta. Rita Hills is the coolest, westernmost sub-region of the larger Santa Ynez Valley appellation within Santa Barbara County. This relatively new AVA is unquestionably one to keep an eye on.
The climate of Sta. Rita Hills is a natural match for Chardonnay and Pinot noir, thanks to the crisp ocean breezes and well-drained, limestone-rich calcareous soil. Here, grapes ripen just enough, while retaining brisk acidity and harmonious balance.