Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Floral, with plenty of creamy, toasty oak, espresso roast, blackberry, and cassis notes is the 2005 Syrah Bossman, which comes from the Bien Nacido, Westerly, and Tres Burros vineyards. Sadly, there are only 120 cases of this big wine.
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Wine Enthusiast
This is a dark, dry and tannic wine, even at the age of five-plus years. It even shows some austerity, with a cloak of astringency. Nearly all Syrah, it has a massive core of blackberry jam, licorice, bacon and sandalwood, with a pleasantly funky note of what seems like brettanomyces. A drop of Viognier lends crisp acidity to this wonderfully rich wine.
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.
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.