Longoria Wines: Santa Barbara county

2001 marks the fourth vintage of working with the Syrah and Grenache grapes from Santa Barbara County. With each successive harvest, I feel that as a winemaker, I am getting closer to breaking the code for producing outstanding wine from this pair of Rhone grapes.

To summarize briefly, much of the secret lies in careful canopy management of the vines, strict crop restrictions and waiting, and waiting again, for the grapes to reach full maturity. In the cellar, I have begun to experiment with extended skin contact after the finish of fermentation, to soften the harsh tannins into smoother components.

This year’s wine is a blend of grapes from Alisos, Stolpman and White Hawk vineyards. Also, a small amount of Grenache from Purisima Mountain Vineyard was blended in. The Grenache adds a sweet note to the aroma as well as helping to smooth out the rough edges of the Syrah lots. The wines aged in a combination of French and American oak barrels for seventeen months. The wines were fined before being blended together, filtered and bottled in April 2003.

The wine has the aromas of red fruit and dark cherries, with hints of spice, smoke and pepper. On the palate the wine is moderately rich, with medium tannins and medium to high acidity. There is a persistent quality to the flavors. The wine has a sweet, slightly toasty, oaky finish. The wine is currently just overcoming bottle shock and will begin to reveal its full aromas and flavors within the next two to three months. I believe this wine will reach full maturity with another four to seven years of bottle again. Serve with pork, venison and other game meats.

Rick Longoria
Winemaker

Release date: June 1, 2003

Composition: 92% Syrah: White Hawk Vineyard: 52%
Alisos Vineyard: 25%
Stolpman Vineyard: 15%
8% Grenache: Purisima Mountain Vineyard: 8%

pH:
Alcohol by volume: 15.1%
Total acidity:
Production: 560 cases
back to Our Wines page