2016 Ojai Vineyard Syrah Bien Nacido Santa Maria Valley 750 ml

Perched high on an ocean-cooled bench of the pristine Santa Maria Valley, the Bien Nacido vineyard is second to none in harnessing Santa Barbara County’s best. Lay this world-class potential in the calloused hands of iconic California vintner Adam Tolmach, and you get a wine that can only be compared to the noblest Syrahs on Earth, and will easily woo fans of Northern Rhône or Adelaide Hills Syrah.

Jeb Dunnuck exalted the 2016 Ojai Syrah Bien Nacido with a 95-point score, topping a list of Old-World classics that would make the staunchest Francophile weak in the knees. It’s a jewel of California’s Central Coast that reaches those majestic heights—bringing the heady rush of fresh cracked pepper and scent of coal-charred meat to the forefront—at a fraction of the cost, and brings with it a frankness that captures something essential about the American spirit.

As we cozied up to this beauty, we were initially won over by the seductive nose of broken-in saddle leather and rendered bacon fat. The core showed hints of the ripeness that we've seen in previous vintages, with a medley of black plum, cherry, and cassis. But while the color, a dense red-purple, went nearly opaque in the bowl of the glass, the fruit remained silky and never overpowered the palate. As the wine evolved, that smoky opening began to evoke the desert landscape—think earth after a warm summer rain—developing into a long, lingering finish of dried mint and savory.

"The 2016 Syrah Bien Nacido Vineyard offers more minerality," Dunnuck wrote, comparing this offering to The Ojai Vineyard's John Sebastiano Vineyard Syrah. "Dark, black fruits and pepper to go with a medium to full-bodied, smoky, meaty style."

As Tolmach explained during our recent visit to Ojai, "In California it is all about climate." He lets the unique qualities of each site lead him to a wine's expression in the bottle. In the case of Bien Nacido, where a blend of warm sun and dense fog conspired to make the 2016 season uniquely gentle, the result is sleek but intense, lithe but focused. "Warmer spots are all about fruit," he said, "but here we exalt in Syrah's complex, incense-like aromas and flavors."

Tolmach got his start, with fellow legend Jim Clendenen, as one half of the team that founded the renowned Au Bon Climat. While Tolmach had been growing his own vines since 1983, it wasn't until the early 1990s that he struck out on his own to focus on The Ojai Vineyard, working land his grandfather had bought in 1933 and collaborating with nearby growers he’d come to know in his first extraordinary decade of winemaking, putting Southern California on the map.

His knowledge of the climate, and his intimacy with the state of the vines in the Santa Barbara benchlands, makes Adam Tolmach the perfect steward of Bien Nacido Syrah. Lucky us.