Winemaker Notes
#40 Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2020
With three years of controlling farming, this is one of the best vintages from Colson to date. This cool vintage gave the grapes plenty of time to hang on the vine and develop flavor and texture. This year’s Colson delivers the up-front fruit that is expected year after year, along with spicy, meaty, and peppery qualities that beautifully balance it out.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
All Syrah aged in roughly 20% new French oak, the 2018 Syrah Colson Canyon Vineyard is gorgeous stuff with an ultra-classic, vibrant, fresher style while still bringing beautiful fruit. Mulberries, blueberries, peppery herbs, and violets are intermixed with a beautiful minty, almost eucalyptus character. Medium to full-bodied, focused, and elegant on the palate, it has good acids, ripe tannins, and outstanding length. It shows the more focused style of this vintage and is going to benefit from another couple of years (it's far from unapproachable today) and will be long-lived. Rating: 96+
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Opaque purple-black, the finished barrel sample of 2018 Syrah Colson Canyon Vineyard is still quite primary on the nose, showing glimpses of warm black and blue fruits, coffee, prosciutto, sage and chocolate. Full-bodied, rich and intense in the mouth, it's youthfully wound with firm, grainy tannins and good freshness, finishing long.
Range: 92-94 -
Wine Spectator
Shows ample torque at the core, wrapped in multilayered flavors of blueberry and cherry, accented by licorice, garrigue and crushed rock notes, finishing with brooding yet polished tannins. Drink now through 2028.
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.