2011 KW Ranch Vineyard Syrah - Kori Wines

Tart Boysenberry, green peppercorn, thick cut bacon. Wild blueberry, Tabasco sauce, black forest cake. Underripe plum and bay leaf, summer sausage and bramble thorns. Extra dirty martini, jalapeno, and tomato skin with a dousing of rock salt and gravel. Basically the most exuberantly wild and elaborate Bloody Mary you've ever had the pleasure of sipping on. This 2011 KW Ranch Vineyard Syrah by Kori Wines is a marvel of accomplishment for California Syrah.

Meaty, savory, and spicy are all terms regularly used to describe Syrah - just not usually ones from California. Somehow - somewhere off of the River Road Wine Trail in the Santa Lucia Highlands - the folks at Kori Wines have created a beautiful monster. No one would ever describe this as simply "pleasant" or "easy drinking" because it just isn't. While there is definitely some fruit hiding in this wine, particularly on the expansive and perfumed nose, this wine is completely driven by fatty meat and stemmy wood and fiery zest. It is fascinating & gorgeous yet dangerous & risqué. If you prefer to be captivated by your wine rather than just mindlessly sipping it, you have got to get your hands on some of this cool-climate goodness.