2016 Paul Lato Syrah Il Padrino Bien Nacido Vineyard

Almost always one of my favorite wines from this talented winemaker, the 2016 Syrah Il Padrino Bien Nacido comes from a cool, ocean-influenced site just outside of Santa Maria. The farming at this world class site is managed by Chris Hammell, and the site is consistently producing some of the best wines in just about every vintage. The 2016 from Lato sports a deep purple color as well as textbook Bien Nacido notes of salted meats, iodine, ground pepper, violets, bacon fat, and a wealth of red, black, and blue fruits. This salty, meaty, gamey Syrah seems to have one foot in Cornas and one foot in California and is full-bodied, carries beautiful intensity of fruit, ripe tannins, and a great, great finish. Compared to the Larner Vineyard Syrah, this is a much more savory, exotic style of Syrah, but it should have a similar evolution, drinking beautifully today with a decant yet also evolving gracefully for 10-15 years.