Winemaker Notes
Inky and powerful, the 2019 Dirt Worshipper boasts a nose filled with crushed blackberries, violets, smoked brisket and green pepper. On the midpalate, Intense flavors of olive tapenade, Sassafras, blueberries, menthol and espresso intermingle. The finish starts dense but lightens up with elegant tannins that melt into a long driving vein of salinity.
Blend: 98% Syrah, 2% Roussanne
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Gorgeous aromatics of ripe blackberries, smoked meats, ground pepper, and iron emerge from the 2019 Dirt Worshipper, a ripe, full-bodied, sweetly fruited, sexy Syrah that has a great mix of cooler climate, Old World-like aromatics paired with some rocking Paso Robles fruit and texture.
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James Suckling
A fantastic syrah with blackberry, grilled meat and black pepper. Violets and tar as well. It’s full-bodied with a creamy texture and a tensioned finish. Central Coast Hermitage. Wow. Syrah with a touch of roussanne. Drink or hold.
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Wine Enthusiast
This bold bottling, which includes 2% Roussanne, combines the brawny Paso Robles style with more delicate coastal touches, delivering a wine that's both heady and hedonistic. Elegantly dense and layered aromas of cassis, roasted fig, maple butter, cracked pepper and kelp lead from the nose into a palate that's awash in acidity with a rich core and spicy edges. Many boxes are checked here.
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Wine Spectator
Handsome and refined yet zesty with personality, offering briary wild berry, herbes de Provence, crushed stone and smoky white pepper flavors that take on richness and concentration toward medium-grained tannins. Syrah and Roussanne. Drink now through 2032.
With bold fruit flavors and accents of sweet spice, Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre form the base of the classic Rhône Red Blend, while Carignan, Cinsault and Counoise often come in to play. Though they originated from France’s southern Rhône Valley, with some creative interpretation, Rhône blends have also become popular in other countries. Somm Secret—Putting their own local spin on the Rhône Red Blend, those from Priorat often include Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. In California, it is not uncommon to see Petite Sirah make an appearance.
Paso Robles has made a name for itself as a source of supple, powerful, fruit-driven Central Coast wines. But with eleven smaller sub-AVAs, there is actually quite a bit of diversity to be found in this inland portion of California’s Central Coast.
Just east over the Santa Lucia Mountains from the chilly Pacific Ocean, lie the coolest in the region: Adelaida, Templeton Gap and (Paso Robles) Willow Creek Districts, as well as York Mountain AVA and Santa Margarita Ranch. These all experience more ocean fog, wind and precipitation compared to the rest of the Paso sub-appellations. The San Miguel, (Paso Robles) Estrella, (Paso Robles) Geneso, (Paso Robles) Highlands, El Pomar and Creston Districts, along with San Juan Creek, are the hotter, more western appellations of the greater Paso Robles AVA.
This is mostly red wine country, with Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel standing out as the star performers. Other popular varieties include Merlot, Petite Sirah, Petit Verdot, Syrah, Grenache and Rhône blends, both red and white. There is a fairly uniform tendency here towards wines that are unapologetically bold and opulently fruit-driven, albeit with a surprising amount of acidity thanks to the region’s chilly nighttime temperatures.