2019 Samuel Louis Smith Syrah Sandstone Terrace Santa Cruz Mountains 750 ml

When you pour Samuel Louis Smith’s tiny-production Syrah Sandstone Terrace Santa Cruz Mountains for your friends, you can tell them it’s an insider secret. Just know that at California’s greatest restaurants, Smith’s wines are anything but.

We've loved these wines from the very first time we tried them, and we can’t think of a young winery whose wines have been more eagerly embraced by the very top dining destinations in California. Thomas Keller’s Bouchon stocks them. Michelin three-star Manresa in Los Gatos lists three different bottlings. Plumed Horse—one of only 97 Wine Spectator Grand Award winners in the world—features even more, including two vintages of the Sandstone Terrace Syrah.

Take one sip of this remarkable Syrah and it’s clear what the sommeliers see in Sandstone Terrace. Bursting with black fruit, cracked black pepper, and dark spice, the wine conveys the coastal-influenced Santa Cruz Mountains perfectly, and does it with the balance of ripe fruit, intriguing character, and exquisite acidity that marks the greatest Syrahs in the world.

Although—or maybe because—Samuel Louis Smith’s small-production wines are so popular at restaurants, they’re incredibly scarce at retail. Diners at the Grand Award-winning Plumed Horse don’t hesitate to pay $85, but Wine Access members get it for a whole lot less.

A semester abroad in Bordeaux is what turned Samuel Smith into an aspiring winemaker, and after stints in Santa Barbara, Australia, Oregon, and the Northern Rhône, he ended up working at Morgan in Monterey County. He had never envisioned himself in that part of the California coast, but the kind of complex, organically farmed cool-climate wines he was making really aligned with his vision. 

For Sandstone Terrace, Samuel taps two vineyards that provide Syrah of two different personalities. The Gali Vineyard practically kisses the Pacific, sitting at 400 feet of elevation just six miles from the coast in the Corralitos sub-district of the southern Santa Cruz Mountains. The own-rooted, dry- and organically-farmed Zayante Vineyard is higher and warmer. Together, the 50-50 blend of sites results in a wine that shows off the spicy, floral, elegant side of Syrah. 

Bursting with California ripeness tempered by an Old World touch, this is the Syrah that’s winning discerning fans up and down the California coast. We're thrilled to share it with you.