2022 Lindquist Family Duvarita Vineyard "Sonnie's" Syrah
This wine is 100% Syrah from the Duvarita Vineyard near the city of Lompoc in western Santa Barbara County. It is one of the coolest vineyard sites for Syrah that I have ever worked with, and in fact sits just to the west of the Sta. Rita Hills AVA, an appellation well known for cool climate. Duvarita is a Demeter Certified Biodynamic vineyard.
Sonnie is my late Mothers name, an honorarium I reserve for the best Syrah from the vintage that did not come from Bien Nacido. In 2022 that wine was clearly this one!
2022 was a warmer than normal vintage, but had little affect on this cool, windswept vineyard site. It is a south facing slope, so gets ample sun, but is tempered by morning marine layer during the Summer and stiff, fresh afternoon breezes. The grapes were harvested fully ripe and with great acidity on October 20th. The yield was small…we were supposed to get 1.5 tons off of the block, but instead got a mere 0.66 tons, just enough for two barrels!
The grapes were de-stemmed into a small, open top, stainless steel fermenter…fun fact, this is the same fermenter I used to make my very first Syrah in 1982! It was manually punched down twice a day. The wine was aged for 20 months in barrel, the first year in 50% new Ermitage French oak, the additional 8 months in neutral French oak. 48 cases were bottled without fining or filtration in June 2024.
This is classic cool climate Syrah, spicy, elegant and with refreshing acidity. While certainly enjoyable now, this wine will benefit from many years (at least 10-15) in the cellar!
