2023 Sculpterra Syrah Paso Robles 750 ml

Sculpterra has been making Syrah in Paso Robles for two decades, and it has become one of the wines this family-owned, east-side producer is best known for. The 2023 is bold and generous, all stewed red fruit and dark spice, with a floral lift of lilac and violet running through it—the product of a Paso Robles vintage that turned out to be one of the finest in years, and one that suited Syrah in particular.

The Frankel family came to winemaking the long way around. They were growers first, farming their corner of Paso Robles since the early 1990s and selling their fruit to other wineries in the region, including J. Lohr and Castoro, for years before they ever bottled anything under their own name. That grower’s instinct still runs under everything they make.

Paul Frankel grew up on the family’s 265-acre ranch off Linne Road, in the Geneseo District on the warmer, lower-elevation east side of Paso Robles. He studied viticulture and enology at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and made his first vintage as head winemaker in 2008, at 22, one of the youngest in the region. He has worked the same ground ever since. Geneseo runs warm, with the wide day-to-night temperature swings that give east-side Paso reds their depth of color, spice, and plush, open fruit.

The 2023 vintage was the one Paso growers had been waiting for. After three dry years, record winter rains replenished the soils, and a cool spring and summer stretched the season long, with fruit hanging well into November. That slow, even ripening gave the region’s Rhône reds real freshness and structure, and Syrah was among the varieties that thrived.

In the glass, the wine is lush and full without turning heavy. Aromas of stewed red fruit meet lilac, violet, black pepper, and baking spice, followed by a palate that stays rich through the midpalate, with silky tannin carrying a long, even finish. It is a Syrah built for the table, at home alongside anything off the grill or out of a cast-iron pan.