Winemaker Notes
In its youth, the 2022 Estate Grown Syrah carries a torch of intense, high toned red fruit with a captivating fleshy texture. Delicately silky yet deceivingly thick and round mouthfeel backed by playfully chalky tannin. Ripe, dense cherry and fiery red plum shine brightness through the palate. A wine of flare and unabashed confidence, certainly a high water mark for the flagship Estate Grown Syrah cuvee.
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
Tasted from tank prior to botting, the 2022 Syrah Estate Grown is super-promising. It shows the intensity of the year, and yet also remains light on its feet. The 2022 might be one of the best ever here. Best of all, it should be a steal.
Tank Sample: 92-94 -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2022 Syrah Estate is scented of blueberries and briar fruit with nuances of tar and forest floor. The full-bodied palate features mineral-tinged fruit, rounded tannins and bright bursts of acidity that highlight violet perfume on the finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
Savory aromas of grilled beef are soaked in soy, stewed plum and elderberry jam on the rugged nose of this bottling. The palate amplifies that peppery spice and smoked-meat quality, with dark purple berries smoothing out the finish.
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.