The 2002 Santa Barbara County Syrah combines Thompson Vineyard, Stolpman Family Vineyard, Melville Vineyard, Bien Nacido Vineyard and other fruit. This blend is more than the sum of its parts. It is powerful, dark, tar-y stuff. It shows cherry, mineral, spice flavors. No Viognier was added. It shares the identical farming and winemaking techniques as our vineyard designated wines to produce a wine of great complexity and lower price. (1020 cases produced)
• This wine includes fruit from the Thompson (24%), Bien Nacido (5%), Stolpman (7%), Melville (46%), and other (Great Oaks, Hampton, Premier Coastal) vineyards (8%).
• Bien Nacido Vineyard harvested on November 6 at 25.0 brix, 3.5 pH.
• Melville Vineyard Syrah harvested between November 5 and 16 at roughly 24 .0 brix, 3.4 pH.
• Stolpman Vineyard Syrah harvested between September 30 and October 10, at roughly 24.4 brix, 3.4 pH.
• Thompson Vineyard Syrah harvested October 22 at 24.2 brix, 3.5 pH.
• No viognier was added for this vintage.
• The fruit was stemmed but not crushed. Intact, whole berries were placed in small bin boxes for fermentation.
• RC212, D254, Barolo, and D-80 yeast used.
• Fermented on the skins for 14 days as individual lots in small bin boxes. Cold soaked for 48 hours before primary fermentation was initiated,
• Went through ML fermentation, completing in January.
• Slightly less than half the barrels used for aging were new, and the rest were older. Roughly two-thirds of the barrels were made of American oak. The rest were French oak.
• Wine was racked in April 2002, and again before bottling.
• Unfined, but lightly filtered..
• Bottled in August 2002.
Food Pairing: This is a highly flavored wine which works well with similarly flavorful food. Try dark sauces, even some with dark fruit. Makes a great reduction sauce. Try spiced or BBQ pork, lamb, or beef. Slow roasted short-ribs in syrah reduction cannot be beat. Seared, spiced Ahi is a favorite, as is smoked salmon.