June 20, 2014 - Central Coast Syrah blind tasting: Garnet black color. Rich bouquet of black fruit, vanilla, cotton candy and cedar. More acid and balance on the palate than I expected, but still very big and ripe with lots of black fruit, cola, violet and cedary notes. Full round tannins, medium acid, low varietal character. Layered and polished throughout with a full finish. From SRH, but not a cool climate style.
December 31, 2013 - Precision in a bottle. As with most Ampelos wines this has a laser focus on what Central Coast Syrah tastes like. Juicy, dark, a bit brooding, full of earthiness, complex layers of both aromas and flavors. A bit austere because of the focus, but this is a great wine that will continue to improve with a few more years in the bottle.
December 12, 2013 - Jammy and rich. Good wine but not to my liking.
May 10, 2013 - Nice flavor but jumbled together - like a blackberry briar. But still an easy drinker.
September 22, 2012 - Very good. Tastes a lot like Alban Patrina.
July 29, 2012 - Bellavino swirl tasting. Very fruity nose. Strawberry, and Cotton candy. The over-sweetness did not translate into the overall taste. Rather a very well rounded Syrah. Both dark and red fruit combined into a delicate balance. I could see this benefiting from being served at cellar temperature, even a little cooler. Very good Syrah, especially from the price point.
June 3, 2012 - Strawberries vanilla leather on the nose. Deep teeth staining color deep berry flavor medium to long slightly tart finish.
April 2, 2012 - 2012 Sta. Rita Hills Winegrowers Alliance Tasting (RN74, San Francisco, California): Dark ruby color; baked berry, black fruit, roasted berry nose; tight, tart black fruit, tart red berry palate with medium acidity; long finish 90+ points
March 29, 2012 - Some simple fruit on the nose, mostly red fruit.
Pleasing and easy to drink, but not much else going on.