2018 Larner Transverse Syrah Santa Barbara

Back in 1997, Santa Barbara’s Ballard Canyon wasn’t the Syrah powerhouse we know today. It took a pioneer by the name of Stevan Larner to take a risk on this dry, windswept corner of Santa Barbara County that seemed more suited to artichokes and cattle than grapevines.

Larner’s gamble paid off. Twenty-five years later, the family’s estate vineyard in Ballard Canyon is recognized as a grand cru of the AVA. And thanks to winemaker Michael Larner’s training with the iconic Marcel Guigal, their Syrahs are some of THE most exciting in this appellation, one that includes superstars like Stolpman and Jonata.

If the Transverse Syrah reminds you a little of the Northern Rhône, that’s not an accident. The Larners were heavily influenced by the wines of Cornas’ Auguste Clape and Côte-Rôtie’s Guigal. The wine is made with 15% whole-cluster fermentation, which will give it even more peppery, spicy complexity as it ages, and only 10% new French oak—a notably small proportion—which allows the fruit to shine through. 

This Syrah represents the culmination of decades of immersion in wine culture. Founder Stevan Larner’s fascination with wine began when he was a film student at the Sorbonne, where he worked on a project for the French government documenting viticulture in Bordeaux. Later, he and his wife Christine moved the family to Italy, and before long, Franco-Italian food and wine were part of their identity. After a career in Hollywood, retiring and starting a vineyard in Ballard Canyon in 1997 was a natural step.

If you love Northern Rhône classics as well as the best from American masters like Tensley and Stolpman, you’re going to be right at home with this wine. 

• Fruit Intensity
• Oak Intensity
• Body
• Acidity
• Tannin

• ABV 14.50%
• 1 hour
• Now – 2028
• % Syrah
• Serving temperature – 60°
• Cork