2019 Sandlands Syrah Santa Lucia Highlands

Community Tasting Notes (5) Avg Score: 90.2 points

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  3/19/2023 - jvphoto Does not like this wine: 87 Points

  Underwhelmed

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  1/19/2023 - Seafoam Manor wrote: 91 Points

  Still quite young and needed every bit of an hour to start to open up and even then it wasn't super expressive on the nose. Blind, I would be hard pressed to not call this a St. Joseph, as this was really made in a cold(er) climate / old world style. The fruit skews mostly blackberry, but more on the lighter side, where it leans to black raspberry and more tart than ripe or stewed. From there, you get all the classic Northern Rhone markers; smoke, grilled meat, briny olive and really big mineral notes through the finish. The structure probably leans more on the acid than the tannin, but there is still pretty good grip. I can't speak with any sort of authority about the specific terroir of the Santa Lucia Highlands, but this is certainly one of the handful of CA Syrahs where "inspired by" truly tastes like it came from the Northern Rhone. This was still pretty closed up, so I would give this a few more years, but I also wouldn't look for extended aging on this.

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  10/14/2022 - cdebeau wrote: 91 Points

  more fruit forward than typical Syrah with more red fruit than blackberry notes. Lighter style. Easy drinking.

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  8/29/2022 - ppandian wrote: 88 Points

  Light fresh and vibrant. But a little fruit forward.

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  2/24/2022 - z_willus_d wrote: 94 Points

  This Sandlands SLH Syrah was such a delight to drink. It was immensely quaffable and also capable of yielding insane amounts of interest and life over the span of two days. With food, it was right at home and you can trade your water for it. After your last bite, pour a final glass and spend an hour inhaling the incredible, changeable, complex aromas wafting out the glass. The wine has an unreal depth and density for something so light and restrained. I find absolutely nothing remotely cloying in any of the characteristics of this wine, and I would probably put it up for a vote for the wine equivalent of manna from heaven. Everything got better the deeper into the bottle I drank with the impeccable Sandlands balance on display, I'm certain this will be fine for many years down the roads. 93-95.

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