Santa
Barbara County
Bien
Nacido is our coolest vineyard site for syrah, and every year
these are the last grapes harvested. We picked the grapes for
this wine on November 16th, 18th, and 19th. It took that long
for them to ripen fully!
Growing grapes in a
climate where they barely get enough heat to ripen gives you
wines that are profoundly different. There is a certain liveliness
and lightness that they possess, which makes them eminently
more drinkable. Though warm climate syrah is hugely popular,
I often find it difficult to slug through a whole bottle of
that sort of high-octane stuff.
Interestingly
enough, the difference between hot and cool climate syrah is
not the extract or intensity level. This is our darkest colored
syrah from the vintage, and it has a boatload of flavor. It
is more a matter of balance, and almost every year that is what
sets this wine apart.
Aromatically,
Bien Nacido syrah is so different from our other syrahs, so
much spicier and earthier. This makes it a little more European
in posture. Flavor-wise, while it is full of Californian fruitiness,
there is an extra dimension here as well that I find compelling.
This is a dazzlingly complex and complete wine. It tastes great
now but will certainly get better with more time in the bottle.