Santa Barbara

• Santa Lucia Highlands
• Santa Rita Hills
• Santa Ynez Valley

This Pinot Noir drinks like Santa Barbara with a little bit of Oregon. The cool climate of the Santa Rita Hills allows for the development of pomegranate, rhubarb, black cherry, and green and black tea leaves, while its earthiness and minerality are the best attributes of Oregon Pinot Noir. Here the Southing, which has matured greatly over the years, stands apart of the run of the mill Pinot Noir. If you’ve ever been to Santa Barbara you can see the layer of clouds that hug the mountains like a blanket. Underneath that blanket are the Sea Smoke vineyards that were planted 25 years ago.

Flying Goat has been making wine in Santa Barbara for nearly 25 years. Best known for his various expressions of Pinot Noir, winemaker Norm Yost also produces sparkling wine and Pinot Gris. This is the first time Norm has used Gris fruit from the Shoestring Vineyard and the result is a bright, expressive, tasty Pinot Gris that will make you rethink just how good Pinot Gris can be. This has it all: citrus fruit, proper acidity, smooth on the palate and a wonderful finish.

Santa Barbara is Pinot Noir country, and the range of expressions in this county are varied. One of the stalwarts, having first started in 1975, is Lucas & Lewellen. For an inexpensive Pinot Noir, L&L does an admirable job of crafting a tightly wound Pinot with excellent fruit, good acidity, and oak influence (a mere 10 months in oak, only a small portion of which was new French) which doesn’t break the bank.

This Syrah was co-fermented with 2% Viognier.  Inky purple in color, opaque and shimmering bright.  The nose is expressive with black raspberries, roasted meats, black pepper, and slight floral notes.  Full bodied.  Medium tannins.  Great energy.  On the palate, this is still primary.  Big black raspberry fruit.  With air some black pepper and meaty notes come out.  Also a touch of char.  Good finish.  This needs a few more years and could handle much more.  It should drink well for another 15 years.  Very nice on its own, this will need big meaty/roasted flavors for now.  Plenty of upside

I am told this is a blend of 63% Petite Sirah, 22% Grenache, and 15% Syrah which makes me wonder how they can call it a Petite Sirah?  In California a wine needs at least 75% of the varietal if it is listed on the label.  In any event, the wine is quite nice.  Purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose has black raspberries, gravel, and roasted herbs.  Full bodied.  Light to medium tannins.  On the palate, black raspberries with char and a bit of gravel.  Good finish.  This is drinking well now and should provide nice drinking for another five to eight years.  It would be a nice wine to

This is the basic Syrah bottling which year in and year out is a great value.  Purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose has black raspberries, slight roasted meats, black pepper and a bit of roasted herbs.  Full bodied.  Medium tannins.  Nice acidity.  On the palate, this is delicious.  Open and drinking well.  Flavors of black raspberries with a bit of pepper and char.  Nice finish.  This drinks well on its own and will work well with most foods (not seafood).  A great wine for Burgers.  Drink over the next seven to ten years.  

This is a conglomeration of the remaining barrels after the single varietal wines have been bottled. And, like those, this keeps getting better every year.  It is a blend of 57% Syrah, 24% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Petite Sirah, 6% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Misc.

This is the basic Jaffur's Syrah.  One of the better value is the fine wine world.  Normally, these get consumed early on, so it was fun to taste one with some age.  Purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose is great with black raspberries, slight char, black pepper and roasted meats.  Also, a bit earthy.  Full bodied.  Mild tannins.  Nice balance.  On the palate, this seems mature.  Drinking well.  Nice depth with a bit of complexity.  Flavors of black raspberries, with char and a nice earthiness.  Drink over the next five to eight years.  It went very well with Indian takeout.  

This is a Pinot Noir from Santa Barbara.  Its rare to find good Pinot for under $20, but this manages to do it.  Screw capped.  Pale, ruby in color with some blueish hues.  clear and bright.  The nose is tight but opens to show some rhubarb and cranberries.  Medium bodied.  Light tannins.  On the palate a sort red currant, slightly medicinal note (better than it sounds) along with red berries.  A bit of menthol on the finish.  After about an hour, its more of a cherry cough drop note.  A solid Pinot that is nice on its own, but improves with food.  This went well with vegetarian taco roll-u

Ruby in color, mostly opaque and partly bright.  The nose has cherries, strawberries, slight black olives and slight black pepper.  Medium bodied.  Lower acidity.  On the palate, black cherries and cherries with a soft texture and light tannins.  Easy drinking and approachable.  Seems more cooler climate in style.  Nice finish.  More on the delicate/feminine side of Syrah.  Nice on its own, this will work well with foods, but stay away from foods that may overpower it.  Pan roasted chicken breast would work well.  Drink over the next five to eight years.