2021 Delmas Syrah SJR Vineyard

The 2021 Viognier is all varietal and comes from a single acre in the vineyard and is fermented and aged in barrel, with lots of bâttonage. Bottled unfined and unfiltered, its slightly hazy hue is followed by a gorgeous nose of ripe apricots, honeyed white peach, and flowers. This carries to a medium to full-bodied, richly textured, broad, deep and layered Viognier that has classic varietal richness while staying light on its feet and balanced.

The 2021 Syrah SJR Vineyard is gorgeous—basically, everything that I had hoped for since tasting it from barrel. Smoky, savory and intense, it bursts from the glass with a blend of black olives, sage, air-dried meats, wild blackberries and violet florals. This sweeps across the palate, silky-smooth yet racy and energetic, with depths of wild berry fruit offset by hints of citrus and salty minerality. The 2021 maintains exceptional freshness while remaining long and potent, with a staining of licorice and a sensation of liquid stone that lingers on and on. What a beauty. Readers should be aware that production was down by 50% due to the extreme warmth of the vintage. The SJR is a co-fermented blend of 92% Syrah and 8% Viognier, produced using about 50% whole-cluster fruit. Simply put, this is spellbinding.

The 2021 Syrah SJR (from barrel) is aromatically more like an exotic savory cuisine than a glass of wine, as a mix of rich braised meats, tomato leaf, dried black cherries and sage form its beguiling bouquet. This is rich and potent on the palate, staining all that it touches with blue and purple shades of ripe fruit and sweet herbal tones. The 2021 finishes remarkably fresh, yet intense through the dramatic finale, as notes of blackberry preserve and dark chocolate fade. I can't wait to see how this shows once it's bottled.