2021 Ojai Vineyard Syrah, Santa Barbara County, California (750ml)   

Adam Tolmach delivers another racy and elegant Syrah, a St Joseph style wine from our own southern valleys. If the reference is not familar to you, St. Joseph is an appellation in the northern Rhone Valley of France.

The reds from St. Joseph are 100% Syrah, and often show the dark berry, white pepper and black olive characteristics of Syrah, but with bright acidity and an lifted quality to the fruit that a warmer climate does not usually deliver. This Ojai bottling is a demonstration that some of the coolest (in both senses of the word ;>) growing areas in California are actually in the southern half of the state. This is directly contrary to popular perception . . .