Winemaker Notes
Our aim with this wine is to capture Santa Barbara County’s potential for gorgeous cool-climate Syrah. This 2021 bottling does that doubly so, as this vintage was particularly cool for our breezy locale. The wine exudes Syrah’s exotic and botanical side—it floods your nose with scents of spiced dark berries and herby olives, bacon fat, and big wafts of violets and peonies. At once there is density and suppleness, with fine easy-going tannin. After a wash of sweet blueberry and raspberry it turns peppery and savory, with a brothy meatiness and mineral spine building throughout the finish.
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2021 Syrah is a potent, muscular wine with more power than it should have for a wine from three-year-old vines. Spiced blue fruit, lavender,garrigue, iron and sea spray paint a technicolor picture in the glass. Deeply concentrated but driven and upright, the 2021 is a Syrah of exceptional balance and real potential.
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Jeb Dunnuck
A wine the competes with any number of impressive Saint Josephs from the Northern Rhône, the 2021 Syrah Santa Barbara County is medium ruby-hued (it's almost opaque) and offers juicy mulberry and ripe blackberry fruits, notes of peppery herbs and subtle floral, gamey nuances, medium body, a round, supple mouthfeel, and a great finish. Drink this satisfying, undeniably delicious, textbook Syrah over the coming decade.
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.”
With a dry and mild climate cooled significantly by moist ocean fog and breezes, Santa Barbara County is a grape-grower’s dream. Part of the larger Central Coast appellation, Santa Barbara is home to Santa Maria Valley and Santa Ynez Valley. The conditions here provide an opportunity for nearly effortless production of high-quality cool-climate Central Coast wines. This is also the site of the 2004 film Sideways, which caused Pinot Noir’s popularity to skyrocket and brought new acclaim to the region.
Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are the stars of Santa Barbara, producing wines marked by racy acidity. Crisp Sauvignon Blanc and savory Syrah are also important. The region is home to many young and enthusiastic winemakers eager to experiment with less common varieties including Chenin Blanc, Grüner Veltliner, Trousseau Gris, Gamay and Cabernet Franc, making it an exciting area to watch.