Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
My favorite Syrah in the lineup (although I'd be hard pressed to pick between this and the Solomon Hills bottling), the 2017 Syrah Bien Nacido Vineyard has cool-climate notes of bloody dark fruits, cracked pepper, iron, and earth. Medium-bodied and nicely concentrated, with good acidity and a backward, focused texture, it needs 2-4 years of bottle age and will evolve for a decade. Rating: 95+
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Decanter
Fruit for this wine was sourced from the vineyards oldest Syrah plantings and fermented with a touch of stems. Savoury, dense, pretty and saline, it is a perfect midpoint between the extremes of Santa Barbara County Syrah. Aromas are restrained at first but unfurl with time into charcoal, cigar box and roasted meat. The palate combines nerve and red-fruited power. Drinking Window 2020 - 2045
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Syrah Bien Nacido Vineyard opens slowly to cassis and crushed black cherries with pure touches of violet and aniseed. The medium-bodied palate offers open-knit flavors in a firm, grainy, fresh frame, and it finishes very long and layered. Rating: 94+
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.