Antonio Galloni Vinous - 96 Pts The 2020 Syrah John Sebastiano Vineyard is a powerful, dense wine that shows how compelling this site can be. Ripe dark cherry, plum, chocolate, dried herbs and incense fill out the mid-palate. Readers will find a sumptuous, flamboyant wine, even so, the 2020 has more than enough energy to pull it off.
We started this project in 2013, making just 69 odd cases with the help of Michael Cruse in Petaluma. Since then, we have been refining our techniques in our own cellar. This bottling, made 100% at our Goleta winery in the true Methode Champenoise, is bone dry, with zero dosage. You’ll find it clean and crisp, though pleasingly complex, with lovely signature Jurassic Park flavors of apricot and quince throughout.
Our versatile take on France’sChâteauneuf-du-Pape is made with Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre. Custom blended each vintage and aged in neutral oak, this crowd-pleasing wine strikes a perfect balance between bright red fruit, spice and earth. Year after year, our Pape Star remains a fan favorite for its medium-bodied weight, elegant texture and versatility when it comes to pairing wine and food.
Our 2022 Chardonnay is lovely, as the vineyard name Bien Nacido (which means Well Born) woould suggest. Medium bodied with good texture and acid, the palate on the wine is much richer than the nose suggests. Pretty stone fruit flavors and a solid line of acidity give balance to the richness.
