Pulverized blackberry, sweet mesquite, poppy seed filling. Roasted blueberry, slow cooked brisket, medjool date. Dark cherry compote, plum liqueur, and fig emphatically collide with cracked pepper, hickory, and raw cacao in an impressively dense and chewy attack. Powerful notes of smoldering firewood and charcoal emerge providing deliciously smoky aromatics bolstered by subtle tones of crushed lavender and muddled violet. Impressions of cinnamon, vanilla, and ground coffee attempt to offset hearty decadence yet are outmatched by bramble, au jus, and Santa Maria spice. Rock salt, clay loam, and calcareous minerality round out the rich and serious display with a pleasant touch of earth. Midnight-black in color; showcasing a brooding and broad-shouldered yet incredibly well balanced presentation that perfectly matches ripe fruit with outstanding savory complexity. Full bodied with big and textured tannin backed by nicely elevated acidity. This 2016 Harrison Clarke Vineyard Syrah by Stringer Cellars is a deep, dark, and edgy red from Santa Barbara County's Ballard Canyon.

Located in the heart of Santa Barbara's Santa Ynez Valley, Ballard Canyon is unique in that it is the only AVA in the entire country primarily dedicated to the production of Syrah. This bottling, crafted by Stringer Cellars using Syrah from the Harrison Clarke Vineyard in Ballard Canyon, brilliantly exhibits what this small stretch of undulating hills is capable of. While certainly leaning towards the ripe and hedonistic this wine is about much more than just extraction and fruit, rather it is its impressively spiced, meaty, and wild characteristics that truly steal the show. Ample acidity gleefully fleshes out the viscous and densely concentrated profile imparting freshness not often found in a wine of this magnitude. This is a full-throttle and expressive offering that does tremendous justice to its grape and region. Outstanding.