Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Dark in the glass, this bottling, which includes 5% Petite Sirah, shows aromas of intense blackberry, toasted herbs and warm spice cake on the nose. The palate combines the classic hallmarks of oak-aged Syrah: bacon fat, cracked pepper, toasty spice and baked berries.
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James Suckling
I loved the 2019 Syrah Estate, which includes 5% of Petite Sirah and was brought up mostly in French oak, with a splash in American oak. Ripe black and blue fruits, vanilla, peppery herbs, and some chocolate notes all give way to a plump, round, fruit-forward effort that has supple tannins and a great finish.
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Wine Spectator
This is appealing for its supple raspberry, garrigue and savory pepper flavors that slowly build richness toward refined tannins. Drink now through 2028. 1,350 cases made.
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.”
Accounting for only ten percent of the greater Santa Ynez AVA, Ballard Canyon’s north-south orientation provides an ideal pattern of sunshine and martime fog for producing excellent Syrah. While Syrah is planted to half of the total AVA acreage, an additional third is dedicated to other Rhône varieties, red and white.