2017 “Baseline” John Sebastiano Vineyard Syrah - Winc

Brambly black raspberry, sliced prosciutto, wild cherry. Tart blueberry, briny black olive, dark plum skin. Chopped fennel and tobacco leaves, fresh lavender and lifted violet. Crunchy blackberry, black currant, and strawberry puree clash violently with ground pepper, garrigue, and tapenade, leaving a wake of lively fruit muddled harmoniously with a cornucopia of spiced savory herbs. Sage and anise continue the wild streak as clove and cardamom attempt to soften their persistent blows. Stems, bacon, and cured meat doused in rock salt emerge with time and reveal further layers of rugged and feral complexity. Fresh, lean, and impressively well balanced; clearly focused on delicate power, nuance, and finesse over saturated extraction. Medium in body with medium tannin and nicely elevated acidity. This 2017 "Baseline" John Sebastiano Vineyard Syrah by Winc is an outstanding cool climate red from Santa Barbara's Santa Rita Hills.

While California Syrah can have a reputation for being soft, ripe, and occasionally quite jammy, the coolest reaches of the golden state are putting out some incredibly delicate, complex, and savory examples of this classic and well-loved variety. This bottling, crafted by Winc under their Baseline label using Syrah sourced from the John Sebastiano Vineyard, is a prime illustration of how riveting this grape can be when grown in marginal climates. This wine is definitely not short on characterful fruit, but fruit here stays quite fresh and is matched in intensity by herbal, meaty, and peppery flair. It is pretty and finessed with layer after layer of savory nuance waiting patiently to be unraveled in the glass. An excellent and thought-provoking small production single vineyard wine.