Since spending more time on the Central Coast, my palate has shifted more toward Syrah. While I love my Carmel Valley/Monterey County Syrahs, I have a particular fondness as well for ones from Santa Barbara County. I wrote up my August 2022 “Sideways” tasting trip on a mission to find such wines in multiple posts about Bien Nacido, Tensley, Stolpman and Beckmen (or just search “Sideways”!).
We were fortunate to take a trip down to Ojai in 2019 where we explored local wines, knowing nothing about any of the Ojai wineries. There, we discovered The Ojai Vineyard and picked up a couple of their exceptional Syrahs. I reviewed their 2015 Bien Nacido Syrah from Santa Maria Valley here and their 2016 Rolling Ranch from Ventura County here.
This winter, a couple of those special Syrahs were opened, including the high end 2019 Beckmen Block Six (#831) (one of the best Syrahs I have ever tasted – what a shame we opened it so early) and this 2012 from The Ojai Vineyard, another one at the very top of my list (which we had been waiting to open). I need a color code system – like our Wine Pod partners have – for my own high-end wines so Man With Corkscrew doesn’t just open them on a random night.
About The Ojai Vineyard from their https://www.ojaivineyard.com/: “The wines we make today are a culmination of four decades pursuing excellence with the fruit grown in our region. We believe that a history like ours is an asset only insofar as it is defined by evolution. Craft is not an overnight sensation; it is the step by step progress that only comes from intuition and experience.”
I just have this one vintage to review today, but I included the 2015 review so you could read them in the same post. As usual, winery notes come from their website. Any errors are mine and mine alone.
2012 The Ojai Vineyard, Bien Nacido Vineyard Syrah, Santa Maria Valley, Santa Barbara County, 13.5% ABV, $60 (#954)
Winery Notes: “We’ve been making Bien Nacido Syrah since 1994, Vineyard manager Chris Hammell continues to work his magic here. Our section in block Z has always produced a wine of distinction, but Hammell’s farming has turned this block into a showcase of how to produce the best syrah grapes. Organic growing, low yields, and painstaking attention to detail have taken these vines to a new level–and the wines show it. This syrah is a wonderful statement of how good Bien Nacido syrah can be: a wine with fascinatingly complex aromas and dense, woodsy, berry fruit and zippy exuberance. This is an intensely flavored but completely delicious wine to drink.”
Blend: 100% Syrah | Alc: 13.5% | Vinification: 25% New French Oak | Barrel Aging: 16 Months | Total Production: 319 cases
95 points – Antonio Galloni & Jeb Dunnuck
My Review: Deep garnet in the glass. Dark fruit on the palate, with flavors of currant and mild tobacco. Earthy and good. January 2023
2015 The Ojai Vineyard Syrah, Bien Nacido Vineyard, Santa Maria Valley, 13.5% ABV, $45 (#560*)
The Ojai Vineyard Tasting Notes: “Aromas come on with many of the usual suspects from Bien Nacido—cured meat, purple flowers, rock dust—but also a concentrated fruity exuberance that tilts toward liqueur. It drinks with that same balance, coming on with an lavish blanket of dark fruits before gaining pitch and lengthening into a smoky savory beauty, closing out late with those cool-climate notes of herby tapenade, wood smoke and peppery meat crust. The forward feel will have many drink this sooner than later, but for peak rapture age this for several years, at least.” 97 points Jeb Dunnuck!!
My Review: Berry blast on the nose, followed by some menthol and leather. Super delicious on the palate. Spice on the finish. We followed the Vineyard Aging Recommendations, opening this one before the 2012 Syrah, which is still not ready! We served this with Thanksgiving leftovers. I loved this wine – probably one of the best Syrahs I have recently consumed. August 2021
Visit The Ojai Vineyards Tasting Room: You can buy Ojai Vineyard wines on their website or at their tasting room at 109 S Montgomery St, Ojai, CA 93023 daily 12-5 p.m. Reservations are highly recommended.
© Decanting Monterey 2023
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