Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This appellation blend performs as well as the single-vineyard expressions by the same vintner (at least early in the wine's life). From Adam Lee, this bottling offers fresh blackberry, violet, lilac, lavender, charcoal, beef and white pepper on the nose. The palate is full of peppery, boysenberry-juice flavors, wrapped in an engaging texture.
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Wine Spectator
Jazzy and bright, with jammy blackberry and smoky meat aromas leading to layered flavors of plum, black olive and licorice. Drink now through 2028. 394 cases made.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Bottled in April of this year (as were all of these 2014s), the 2014 Syrah Santa Lucia Highlands is a smoking value that readers should snatch up. Jammy dark fruits, black pepper, wild herbs and black cherry notes all emerge from this beauty, and it's medium to full-bodied, nicely textured and balanced on the palate.
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.”
Perhaps the most highly regarded appellation within Monterey County, Santa Lucia Highlands AVA benefits from a combination of warm morning sunshine and brisk afternoon breezes, allowing grapes to ripen slowly and fully. The result is concentrated, flavorful wines that retain their natural acidity. Wineries here do not shy away from innovation, and place a high priority on sustainable viticultural practices.
The climatic conditions here are perfectly suited to the production of ripe, rich Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. These Burgundian varieties dominate an overwhelming percentage of plantings, though growers have also found success with Syrah, Riesling and Pinot Gris.