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Waiting Out Gandhi
After one of Hollywood's most talked about couples packed that 5-Series trunk with a treasure trove of Ojai Syrahs and Pinot Noirs, Adam Tolmach warmed up the burritos. Then he treated us to one of the flashiest single vineyard lineups we've ever tasted on the Golden Coast.
That was 18 months ago. The vintage, of course, was 2007, a growing season that few in Santa Barbara will soon forget. In that marvelously dry Indian summer where diurnal temperatures varied by as much as 40 degrees in late August, Tolmach nursed spectacular richness from each variety, while still harboring spine tingling crispness and nerve. By the time night fell, we'd coaxed hundreds of cases from a guy who loves making wine, but has little taste for selling it. Some of these would rank with the most highly rated offers in recent WineAccess history.
You may remember the golden, lemon custard 93pt Clos Pepe Chardonnay, drawn from Wes Hagan's Lompoc sand. Or maybe you were one of the fortunate few who bought into the deep, red raspberry elegance of the 93pt Pinot Noir "Fe Ciega", made from BB-sized berries off of Rick Longoria's manicured parcel up near Sea Smoke.
But while the Pinots and Chardonnays shined, this was a vintage where cool climate Syrah reigned supreme -- and Tolmach made no mistakes. "Presidio" was big, rich, chunky and muscular. "Thompson" more rustic and briary. Adam's "Melville Vineyard" Syrah was a sleek, fabulously concentrated marvel, drawing 94 points from Parker -- then lighting up WineAccess like a pinball machine.
Still the top wine of the day was from a vineyard we'd heard much about, but never seen. Purportedly planted on little more than desert sand, White Hawk Vineyard was said to be the most maniacally farmed site on the southern coast. Both Adam and Manfred Krankl of Sine Quo Non grabbed every cluster they could get.
But even as we made off with allocations of Clos Pepe, Fe Ciega and Melville, when it came to eking out a couple pallets of White Hawk, Tolmach turned Gandhi. He wasn't selling White Hawk yet. Instead, he offered detailed directions to Los Alamos and the steep sandy hillsides of Cat Canyon.
Here's why. In July 2010, the 2007 White Hawk Syrah was a gentle monster. Purple ink in color (put it in your Mont Blanc and go to town), packed with blackberry preserves and sweet herbs, this was that rare coastal Syrah that married immense, chiseled concentration, riveting purple fruit aromatics, still bracketed by mouthwatering acidity. Parker would suggest that this one would be going strong in 2022. Clearly, Tolmach thought the same.
The following morning, we made the drive up the coast. Cat Canyon is cut into the coastal range just two miles from town. Colder than Ballard Canyon (where Stolpman and Beckmen work their magic), that first glance at White Hawk was a shocker. The vines seemed almost anemic with few leaves, somehow struggling to survive in soil that resembled desert sand. The vineyard crew, Adam told us later, doesn't really irrigate White Hawk. Instead, each plant is spoon fed water, squeezing out just a couple clusters per plant of phenomenally concentrated small berry fruit.
How long did we have to wait? Just a year and a half. Not bad in Tolmach-time. By now, of course, Parker's rave 93pt review has sucked most of the 2007 White Hawk Syrah out of Adam's cellar at $40. But while Adam stonewalled us in 2010, in the end, we waited him out.
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Tasting Notes
2007 The Ojai Vineyard Syrah White Hawk Vineyard Santa Barbara County
"The 2007 Syrah White Hawk is round, sweet and harmonious. Plums, smoke, licorice are some of the notes that emerge from this rich, deep Syrah. There is plenty of power and structure supporting the fruit all the way through to the long, persistent finish. This is texturally brilliant and striking. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2022."
93 points -- Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate
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