Syrah

There is no imposing château at Domaine Durand. No reception desk and no PR staff. In fact, we tracked down the Durand frères in the town of Châteaubourg (pop. 211) by spotting their worn shingle hanging in a narrow alleyway. We ducked our heads and stepped into the tiny subterranean tasting room, where Éric and…

Look—we know we’re not alone in our love for E. Guigal. But we don’t revere the Rhône icon just for their priceless reds. We revere them because everything they bottle—from their $400+ La Las to their modest Côtes-du-Rhônes—leaves us marveling at how they do what they do so well. Their 2019 Crozes-Hermitage is a perfect…

When you pour Samuel Louis Smith’s tiny-production Syrah Sandstone Terrace Santa Cruz Mountains for your friends, you can tell them it’s an insider secret. Just know that at California’s greatest restaurants, Smith’s wines are anything but. We’ve loved these wines from the very first time we tried them, and we can’t think of a young winery whose…

Since our first Tensley offer in 2009, the wines have become an obsession at Wine Access. They’ve crushed the member ratings for their ability to overdeliver hedonistic and high-toned vibrancy—and with his 2019 Tensley Santa Barbara Syrah, 99-point winemaker Joey Tensley throws down the exact kind of bottle that made him a superstar.  This is…

Few wineries in California are as reliably outstanding as Dragonette. They’ve been roundly praised by just about every critic who covers the state: Antonio Galloni of Vinous has called their wines “truly world class”—“and I don’t use those words lightly.” Jeb Dunnuck has said “the estate can do no wrong,” praising Dragonette as “unquestionably” one…

Bob Lindquist, the founder of Santa Barbara icon Qupé, is an icon whose face deserves to be on California’s Rhône Rushmore, alongside Jim Clendenen, Randall Grahm, and John Alban. Wine & Spirits once said, “Bob Lindquist makes some of the most consistently fine Syrah in California,” and his wines have landed on the W&S Top…

Steve Beckmen was one of the first people we ever heard use the word “biodynamic.” That method of farming has been an obsession of his for decades, and he long ago recognized that great wineries in Alsace, Bordeaux, and Burgundy all credited biodynamic practices with transforming their estates. So he sought to do the same. …

Vinous declared that “among the Northern Rhône’s fastest-rising stars, Johann Michel must be counted among the top in Cornas.” But his estate is tiny, just four hectares, which is why they followed up that praise with a warning: “with increasing local demand, his wines are getting tougher to find in export markets.” It was not…

We all gotta start somewhere. Joey Tensley was lucky enough to start out at Fess Parker Winery in 1994, helping to plant Rodney’s Vineyard for just $7 per hour. Today he’s come full circle, making a phenomenal wine from the very vineyard he helped plant back in 1994. Maybe you’ve had a Tensley Syrah by…

Not just anyone can get access to Thompson Vineyard Syrah grapes.  And if they’re waiting for Joey Tensley to give up access to his 30+ year old blocks, they’ll be waiting a long time.  “From my time at Fess Parker, to Babcock, to Beckmen, I’ve worked with every vintage of this vineyard,” Joey told us….