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California Syrah

by Ray Johnson | Jul 28, 2010 | California, Santa Barbara County, Santa Ynez Valley, Syrah

JC Cellars, Santa Barbara County, Fess Parker’s Vineyard, Syrah 2007 Give this wine a bit of air, 10 minutes or so to blow off a bit of reductive character. Then the black fruit will emerge, wrapped in a jacket of leather. In the mouth there are notes of tar and...

Syrah from California and Cote-Rotie

by Ray Johnson | Apr 28, 2010 | California, Cote-Rotie, Russian River Valley, Santa Barbara County, Santa Ynez Valley, Sonoma County, Syrah

This flight of Syrah takes us from the freshness of new fruit in California, to the development of bottle bouquet in wines from 2003 – excellent all around, featuring different expressions of the same grape over time and over both sides of the Atlantic. Foxen,...

Firestone Sauvignon 2008

by Ray Johnson | Aug 4, 2009 | California, Santa Barbara County, Santa Ynez Valley, Sauvignon Blanc

Firestone Vineyard, Santa Ynez Valley, Sauvignon Blanc 2008 This wine delivers full-on grassiness and gooseberries in the nose. In the mouth there is plenty of citrus and citrus peel and very vibrant acidity – refreshing. P&B in Los Olivos 13.5% $18 at the...

Curran Grenache Blanc 2007

by Ray Johnson | Aug 4, 2009 | California, Grenache Blanc, Santa Barbara County, Santa Ynez Valley

Curran Wines, Santa Ynez Valley, Santa Barbara County, Grenache Blanc 2007 The nose combines flowers and herbaceous notes while the mouth is reminiscent of biting into a plum that isn’t fully ripe, bursting with fruit yet ripping with tart acidity and a bit of...

Foxen Williamson-Dore Syrah 2006

by Ray Johnson | Jul 30, 2009 | California, Santa Barbara County, Santa Ynez Valley, Syrah

Foxen, Santa Ynez Valley, Williamson-Dore Vineyard, Syrah 2006 This vintage exudes sweetness, like berry jam and raspberry liqueur. In the mouth it is supple and warm, oaky and smoky – a very rich and ripe style of red wine. The previous vintage was also a crowd...

Zaca Mesa Viognier 2008

by Ray Johnson | Jul 18, 2009 | California, Santa Barbara County, Santa Ynez Valley, Viognier

Zaca Mesa, Santa Ynez Valley, Estate Grown and Bottled, Viognier 2008 This wine is very peachy and sweet appearing, slippery and rich. Fermentation began in stainless and then the wine spent 3 mos in neutral fr oak; malolactic was avoided. Clay Brock Winemaker,...
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Wine Regions & Grapes

Sampling of Wineries

Acorn Allegrini Atlas Peak Balletto Blandy's Blue Wing Cafe Bodega Navarro Correas Bollinger Bonterra Burgans Cantina Terlano d'Arenberg Domaine Carneros Domaine de la Mordoree Dow's Dr. Loosen Elena Walch Famega Fonseca Foppiano Foxen Glen Ellen Innocent Bystander J. Keverson Korbel Madeira Wine Company Martin Codax Masi Merryvale Mulderbosch Navarro Vineyards Noceto Plantagenet Redwood Creek Reynoso Roederer Estate Sbragia Shed Horn Shooting Star Sonoma State Wine Business Institute St. James Trione Vietti Wildhurst William Fevre