Lillian Syrah Santa Barbara California USA 2019

Story

Lillian comes to us by way of vintner and winemaker Maggie Harrison of Antica Terra. During the seventh of Maggie’s eight years of training in the cellar at Sine Qua Non, the opportunity presented itself to make wine from a small portion of the top of the White Hawk Vineyard. She bottled 150 cases of 2004 Lillian Syrah, her inaugural vintage. Since that time, the project has grown in tiny increments, first by sourcing additional fruit from Stolpman and Bien Nacido Vineyards in 2007,offering her first Roussanne and rosé wines in 2013 and then, in 2014, she introduced her first Cabernet Sauvignon from True Vineyard on Howell Mountain.

The Vineyards

Bien Nacido Vineyard is alarge historic vineyard in Santa Maria Valley. The Syrah that Maggie picks fromBien Nacido is more northern Rhone-esque with its flavors of smoke, lavender and salt inflected oceanic aromas. The Syrah here is always the lowest in sugar and the highest in acidity and tannins.

White Hawk Vineyard is a60-acre vineyard just outside of Los Alamos, CA.  The Lillian block at thetop of White Hawk hill is a sand dune- literally pure sand. This site is warmerthan Bien Nacido but because of its soil it retains precision and finesse

The label

It is a representation of a feather with two meanings. When Maggie was first talked into making her own wine, it felt a bit like being pushed out of the nest as a fledgling. It is are minder that even the impossible is, in fact, not just possible but instinctual. It also serves as a reminder of all that we’re hoping to achievewith these wines: levity, flight and a fineness of detail.

Vinification and Ageing

In the Lillian winemaking process, clusters and individual berries are meticulously sorted by hand, berries often snipped from the stem with tiny scissors. The wines are fermented naturally in small, open top fermenters, tread by foot, siphoned into barrel –never pumped.  The wines are then settled and aged on the lees beforebeing bottled without fining or filtration.

Grape Variety 

Syrah

Serving Temperature

16- 18 Celsius

Recommended Glass

Bordeaux red wine glass

Tasting Notes

Color

Deep ruby

Aromas

A complex dance of darkfruit preserves, sandalwood, sweet flowers and spice-cake with mineral notes in the background.

Taste

Full bodied and richpalate is supported with blueberry and violet. The finish is lingering, framedin flowers and fine-grained tannins. Combines the savouriness and elegant of Northern Rhône Syrah with a lushness style from California

Food Pairings

Charcoal grilled Bistecca Fiorentina Steak