2004 Ojai Syrah Santa Barbara County

The Crozes-Hermitage-like 2004 Syrah Santa Barbara is a cool climate effort displaying notes of herbs, tapenade, and spice box. Somewhat monolithic by Adam Tolmach’s standards, it is best consumed over the next 3-4 years. Adam Tolmach kindly conducted a mini-vertical, going back to 1995, of his Bien Nacido Vineyard Syrah, and it was good to see how well they all performed. My favorites included the 1996 (93 points), 1998 (91 points), 2000 (93 points), and 2002 (93 points). The only wine that did not show as well as I would have hoped was the 1997 (88 points), which was much lighter and on a faster evolutionary track. Tel. (805) 649-1674